The Great Ignition
by SixtyYDidU
Summary: Aboard the UNSC Ode To Joy, Fireteam Odysseus, consisting of 3 Spartan IIs and a Spartan III, is tasked with investigating a loss of transmission with the uranium colony of уран (Uran) after the fall of Reach. What was initially thought to be an Insurrectionist invasion leads Odysseus to an ancient alien facility where a long lost threat rises once more.
1. Prologue

-Prologue-

0729 HOURS, JULY 28, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) REACH, EPSILON ERIDANI SYSTEM (New Beginnings Worship Temple)

"Mission time, report." Hagan mumbles.

"Thirteen minutes and forty-two seconds, sir." Yonalli replies hastily.

"Plenty of time." Hagan mumbles. "Yonalli and Tuskan, move to that structure. Limit COM usage. We don't have much intel as to the location of the defense force. They could be listening."

"Sir." Yonalli replies, nodding.

"Julian, you're with me. We're moving up to that cliff. You'll provide Yonalli and Tuskan with overwatch while I radio Hudson." Hagan orders. He is the "leader" of the Spartans. Fireteam Odysseus didn't really have a designated leader amongst themselves. They were just supposed to take order from their CO, and figure the rest out on their own. Everyone else in Odysseus, however, saw Hagan as a figure of leadership. Smart and quick thinking even compared to the augmented intelligence of the other Spartans, it comforts the rest of Odysseus a little to have someone with such high mental abilities close to them during engagement. So while Hagan isn't the official leader, he did what is expected during times of need.

Julian nods and the Spartan IIs moves quickly to their assigned sections. Hagan and Julian began their ascension atop the cliff while Yonalli and Tuskan prepare for a sprint to the temple entrance. Hagan and Julian are halfway up when Yonalli motions for Tuskan to move. The temple is large and gothic. An old church that had been constructed during the first few days of humanity's settlement on Reach. It quickly went into disuse, sitting and rotting over many years. Now it conceals covenant forces during the battle of Reach. Hagan's team is to neutralize this concealed defense force. Civis looking for a hiding place were quickly gunned down when they arrived here, and UNSC forces were constantly dropping to sniper-fire, even miles away from the church, thanks to its perch atop a tall mountain edge. It is a small assignment, but one with heavy importance. Covenant snipers didn't dick around.

Tuskan takes point to the right of the door, and Yonalli crouches directly in front of it, pulling out a breaching explosive. When he finishes fastening it to the wooden door, he looks up to the now prone Hagan atop the cliff edge. Yonalli is quick to take cover with Tuskan, and Hagan blows the charge. Plasma fire roars through the doorway, tearing and melting any remaining bits of the door-and Yonalli, if he would have still been standing there. When the fire ceases, Yonalli mutters. "Allow me to retort."

Yonalli thrusts his hand inside the doorway as fast as he can, leading an M9 frag in with it. The grenade bounces off of the back wall and the last thing Yonalli hears before the M9's deafening explosion is the screech of a jackal.

"First room clear! Moving inside the structure."

"Gotcha." Hagan confirms. "Hooking Julian up now."

With that, Hagan turns back to Julian. Julian is the team designated sniper. He is a good shot, but like every sniper, he needs a spotter. The man is an excellent engineer, and had created a camera that can detect someone through electrical output. The device could be hooked up to a Spartan's helmet, and would project a screen in the top left of the Spartan's HUD. This way, a Spartan could snipe and spot by himself. It still took a level of multitasking most could not manage, but Julian knows what he is doing. When Hagan finishes hooking Julian up, he taps on his station COMs.

"Yonalli, overwatch is in position. You're clear to go loud."

There is a second pause, and then Yonalli responds. "Understood." Gunfire in the background tells Hagan that Yonalli had already turned up the volume. The man hates stealth operations. He loves to make noise, and that's what he did. A mastermind in explosives, he could build a damn missile out of household supplies if you wanted him to. As Hagan stands up, Julian grabs his ankle. Hagan looks down at the sniper, who only points at a tall pointed rock. There is nothing there. Hagan knows better than to doubt Julian's vision, so he stares closer. Then he sees it.

"Yonalli, Tuskan, get hunkered down. Company has arrived, and our BB gun ain't gonna hold them off for long. They're using light-bending harnesses."

"Understood. Five minutes and eighteen seconds left on mission timer. We gotta go soon." Yonalli silences COMs after that, hoping they can jump the raiders for just a second.

Julian begins to fire just after that. He drops one of the wavy figures with his first shot. The elites began to move, knowing that their cover is lost. Julian can see every one of them. Their harnesses release an immense amount of electrical energy. Ironically, their cloak is making them more visible to Julian. Another thunderclap and the third elite drops. There are maybe twenty, however. And they keep coming. Hagan lifts his MA3 and rains automatic fire down like hail on the elites. Plasma fire is finally returned, and Hagan ducks quickly.

It is quiet, other than the sniper fire outside. Tuskan shifts. Yonalli's breathing makes the old wooden floorboards squeak for just a second, then the wood settles and silences. It feels like hours. In reality, however, it is only a few seconds before heavy footfalls fill the entrance hall. Yonalli slowly raises his M6G sidearm and rests his right wrist on the rolled over table he uses as cover. He saw the air wobble just around the corner. He can barely make out the body structure of an elite, slowly moving, cloaked. It steps over one of the jackal corpses, and smoothly maneuvers into the dark and musty room. He raises his pistol higher, to where he imagines the elite's head is. The Spartan quietly flicks off his safety, however it sounds like an explosion during the intensity of the moment. He squeezes the trigger, locks his arms, and prepares to fire as quickly as he could if the first round misses. The magnum shouts, and the elite's cloaking harness drops faster than its corpse. The wall is painted with the violet liquid that is the Sangheili's blood. The violet seems to float in some areas as well, where other elites are hiding with their light-bending technology. The blood shows Yonalli and Tuskan exactly where the others were. Before the other elites can react, the two spartans open fire. The air roars with gun fire, and corpse after corpse drops. The elites drop faster than they can react, their corpses seeming quite comedic. Like dominos. The two spartans drop five more elites before the rest finally had the time to back off. Six down, a bunch more to go. Yonalli hastily checks his mission clock. Two minutes.

"Dammit. Tuskan, we gotta go!" Yonalli shouts through the thunder of gunfire. Tuskan turns and nods to Yonalli.

"Never liked this place anyways. Not my style. Not enough alien blood." Tuskan cracks.

Yonalli snickers slightly and begins to move. There are no other entrances, so Yonalli decides to make a new one. It is a safety hazard to only have one exit, and Yonalli considers himself an architect. Yonalli sets the last charge on the back wall and switches on his COMs.

"Hagan! We're ditching! Hudson should be firing on this position in one minute! Detonate the last charge and meet us at the secondary rendezvous point."

"We hear ya. See you there." Hagan finishes before clicking the detonator. The charge bursts, and Hagan watches the church flood with elites as Yonalli and Tuskan slip out from the new doorway created by the charge. Plasma fire chases them, but they escape untouched.

"You heard them Julian. Pack up shop and let's move. This place is gonna be a smoldering crater in about forty seconds."

Julian nods and swipes his gear against his chest. Hagan is halfway down the backside of the cliff when Julian finishes packing up. Twenty seconds. Julian catches up to Hagan, and they begin to slide the rest of the cliff. Landing hard at the bottom, Hagan looks up to see a growing light entering the atmosphere. It is a MAC round from Brasilia station, one of the many Orbital Defense Platforms above Reach. And Hudson had fired the round. A second later and the cliff above them explodes, the ground shaking and lurching Hagan and Julian to the trembling ground. They are distant enough from the round that it does not do direct damage, but they are still in range of its shockwave. Hagan looks back up from the dirt to see escaping elites being lifted off of their feet and thrown down the mountain side. The mountain shakes one more time, and begins to crumble.

"Get up Julian! This mountain isn't gonna wait for us to recover!"

Hagan hefts Julian up from the soil and they begin their sprint again. The enormous avalanche of the mountain's collapse roars, and rock, boulder, and dirt tumbles past the two Spartans. They aren't going to reach the bottom. Too far down. They just need to reach the neighboring mountain edge. They could see it now, as close as it could be. Hagan dives and lands on the jutted cliff. Julian stumbles, and then jumps as well. Hagan grabs his hand and hefts him onto the rock. The avalanche rages behind them, and the mountain crumbles like a house of cards.

"Now that is too close." Hagan mumbles, standing upright.

"I think we did fine." Julian spoke.

Before the two even had time to recover, plasma fire erupts once more. Julian points to the other side of the cliff. Yonalli and Tuskan were sprinting, being chased by a few Sangheili survivors. Hagan and Julian look to each other, and then follow after the pursuit. Hagan reaches for his MA3, and the magnets disable, allowing Hagan to pull his rifle from his back.

"Lost our weapons in the mountain avalanche! Could have taken them on our own, but Tuskan injured his arm." Yonalli informs them over COM.

"Don't worry, we'll handle 'em for ya." Hagan replies.

Hagan squeezes the MA3's trigger, and sprays the back few elites. Their shields glow at the gunfire, and they turn to face their attacker. Julian put a round into the first elite with his M6G, and its shield collapses. Hagan drops it with his rifle. The second elite is beside Julian in seconds, slashing its energy dagger at his weapon. The dagger bounces off of Julian's armour, but the pressure opens his palm, releasing the magnum to the dirt. Hagan sprays the attacker with his rifle, and Julian finishes the elite with a blow to its temple. The last elite tackles Tuskan, who is quick to slam his own head into the alien. The heavy Titanium alloy of his helmet caves the elite's shield inwards, but the helmet kept going through the energy, shoving itself into the warrior's face. The alien drops, dead. Tuskan stands back up and looks to Yonalli.

"I don't need both arms to kill these fuckers." Tuskan assures him, holding his non-broken arm out to the corpse.

"Alright. You've proven your point." Yonalli replies, nodding.

"Fireteam Odysseus, we need you back aboard Brasilia Station." Hudson's sudden voice spoke through the speaker. "We need you in New Alexandria."

"Gotcha. Heading back to the Pelican." Hagan reports, and they were on the move again.


	2. Chapter 1

-1-

2010 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UPPER УРАН ORBIT, EPSILON BOÖTIS SYSTEM (_UNSC_ _Ode To Joy_)

The Spartans sat in silence. They thought about what had happened only four days ago. Reach had been their home when they were young, and it is gone. The damned Covenant had taken it. Just like they did the many lives of humanity, and other homes. And they weren't finished. Fireteam Odysseus had been relocated to Уран, a UNSC colony in the binary star system of Epsilon Boötis. The planet is very cold, with temperatures ranging from negative one-hundred degrees celsius to negative sixty degrees celsius. The latter during summer-time. It is best this way however, as the alternative is death by the immense heat of two stars on the system's only other planet, HC-7782, which is dangerously close to the heat sources. There isn't much above ground life on Уран. The only reason the UNSC based on the ball of ice and rock is for its high concentration of uranium and selenium, which was discovered by a passing cargo ship that had accidently copied in the incorrect coordinates to Epsilon Eridani in 2391. The Spartans were here because the above-ground outpost stopped responding a few hours ago. Odysseus' ONI Officer, CO Hudson, believes it's either a remnant Innie group attack, or another Covenant invasion. Either way, it's bad news that the Spartans can handle. What they can't handle is Reach's fate. And Hudson wants to keep them far from Epsilon Eridani- give them time to recover from the tragedy. What hurt the Spartans the most is the fact that they are not permitted to discuss the fall of Reach with any outside personnel. Well, they aren't hurting from being silenced. They are fine with that. But the part that they don't like is how no other human can know that Reach is gone. From anyone. To keep morale high, Reach's fall is to remain confidential. The Spartan's home is still there to anybody outside of the ONI agents and Reach's few survivors. That is what is making the Spartans hurt. The lying. Not who is lying, but who is being lied to. But Odysseus kept to themselves. They had to think. They had to keep their heads screwed on right.

"Alright Spartans. _Ode to Joy _is right above Уран. Pelicans are clear for departure. Good luck guys." Hudson informs Odysseus over the ship intercom. _Ode to Joy _is a Gladius-class corvette, measuring at two-hundred and forty-three meters length-wise. Hudson is one of the few ONI Officers to have his own ship, and that is for good reason. _Ode to Joy _went where the Spartans went. She is their home, and their greatest weapon. Light, quick, agile, but also tough. Armed with a 20DA1C2 MAC cannon, two M58 Archer missile pods, and six M870 Rampart Point Defense Cannons. Alone in space and commanded by CO Hudson, she could take out several covenant capital ships before falling herself.

"Copy Hudson. Thanks for the lift." Yonalli responds through a public COM channel.

Hagan and the rest of Odysseus rose and began their transfer to the hangar bay. Yonalli glares back at Tuskan, who just shrugs. Yonalli grunts and turns ahead. He watches Hagan without moving his visor. Hagan hadn't spoken since the covenant fleet _Particular Justice _laid siege to Reach, turning its surface to glass. Yonalli knew how hard Hagan is taking it. All of Odysseus is devastated over it. But it is heavier for Hagan. He had called that planet home even before his days within the Spartan II Program. Yonalli sighs and looks straight once again. Once Odysseus arrives inside the hangar bay, Hagan is quick to snap his MA3 to the weapon shelf beside the pilot seat. The spartan sat down with a thump into the pilot's chair and motions for Julian to climb in the seat above him- the co-pilot's seat. Yonalli and Tuskan stay in the back, Tuskan sitting on the open flap of the Pelican's boarding gate, and Yonalli sitting in the seat closest to the pilot's sealed off section. He wants to keep an eye on Hagan. The spartan is a very extroverted individual, which is a rare trait to see amongst the augmented soldiers. If he is quiet, then he isn't alright.

When the pelican lurches to life and rose slowly, Tuskan shifts his position so he could speak to Yonalli. "Hagan is taking this pretty hard." Tuskan mutters through a private COM channel. "I don't think he likes the fact that we've been moved all the way out here."

"I don't know. If it were me, the peace and quiet would be nice after I had just lost my home." Yonalli replies in a whisper, even though no one else could hear him besides Tuskan.

"But you know that Hagan isn't like the rest of us." Tuskan replies, turning his head to watch the doorway that leads to the cockpit. "I think he would rather be there in the fight. Trying to take revenge."

"That's probably true. But this is best for him. He needs time to let his blood cool." Yonalli responds.

"You're right. It's best for all of us."

The COM channel shuts down and the pelican begins its thrust forward. Once the pelican clears the decompressed hangar bay, it banks left and begins the journey towards Уран. Yonalli watches as the _Ode to Joy _shrinks from view, only a dot after a few minutes. He would miss the familiar smell that the ship always seemed to radiate, even when you sprayed an entire can of air freshener in the room. It was hard to bear at first, but Yonalli can't imagine home without it anymore. Now the only scent was the tight leather of his Mark IV helmet. The built in air conditioning carrying the scent around his face endlessly. A wonderful smell, but nothing close to _Ode to Joy_.

"And now it's time for the wait." Yonalli grunts.

"Yep… the calm before the storm…" Tuskan responds. "What do you think is down there anyways?"

"The brass thinks its Innies. But I'm not so sure…" Yonalli sighs.

"Oh really? What's your theory?" Tuskan's voice curves in curiosity.

"Well-" Yonalli begins, shifting forwards in his seat and resting his arms on his knees. "Why do the Innies need uranium, huh? It would make sense during the Insurrectionist Wars, but with the Covenant about, they've basically killed every Innie colony. Any remnants wouldn't risk trying to start a war with the UNSC again. They don't have the power to do that kind of thing."

"It's the perfect time, though. The selenium could help them repair their Shaw-Fujikawa drives, and the uranium could help build a couple Shiva nukes. They could lead an attack on the UNSC, especially with the Covenant weakening them." Tuskan argued.

"But why? Why would they lead an attack on the UNSC? They got their independence. The UNSC doesn't care about them anymore. They've let them have their colonies. The Innies have no reason to start a fight all over. Plus, with the UNSC gone, they will just assist the Covenant in exterminating humanity. They need the UNSC to be the main fighting force against the Covenant, so their own colonies will be hidden." Yonalli explains, moving his hands around as he does. Yonalli is twitchy, and likes to talk with his hands. Moving and having something to fiddle with is a trait that makes Yonalli, Yonalli.

"Makes sense…" Tuskan finishes, leaning back in his seat. "So you think it's Covenant then?"

"Yeah, I think it's Covenant. They could use the selenium to power their drives." Yonalli replies.

"Are Covenant slipspace drives powered by selenium? I didn't think they were. And last I heard, the uranium plants went offline. Not the selenium plants." Tuskan mumbled.

"I don't know. Maybe they use uranium. All I know is it ain't Innies."

"We'll just have to see then." Tuskan says matter-of-factly with a tilt of his head.

When _Ode to Joy_ is nothing more than a black dot in the empty space, the carriage ramp on the pelican lifts and shuts. The passenger cabin pressurizes with a soft hiss, and the biomonitor on Yonalli's heads-up display notifies him that the air inside is safe. A useless mechanic right now, but in most scenarios it changes the tide of the battle. The overhead lights inside the cabin slowly fade to red, and Odysseus COMs switch on.

"We're entering Уран's atmosphere now. Prep for the usually bumpy ride." Hagan announces over the team COMs. Tuskan and Yonalli look back to each other. The shutters on the viewports slide shut, as is usual protocol for atmospheric entry. The ride is bumpy and uncomfortable, a sudden and drastic change to the smooth sailing ride that empty space usually brings. Marines usually have to be strapped down during this part of the ride, and even then they are thrown around. But the Spartans have the ability to magnetize certain parts of their armour at will, making the ride much more endurable without the use of straps. They couldn't wear them anyways. Their armour and gear was too bulky for safety harnesses to fit around. The only alternative was magnetization.

After around twenty minutes, the shudders reopen and the rowdy flight comes to a slow end. The pelican still rumbles due to its sharp downwards angle and speed against the constant planet-wide blizzard that Уран endures, but it is significantly more calm than atmosphere entry. Уран's atmosphere is thick, but low. There isn't much space between the lower end of its stratosphere and the planet's surface, Maybe around six kilometers, compared to Earth's ten kilometers, so once you are passed atmosphere entry, it is a short ride to the ground.

"The uranium plant is just a kilometer north from our landing vector. Hudson recommends that we land here and move the rest of the way on foot, just in case of any anti-air weaponry. The pelican should be well concealed in the snowy hills. Stealth tactics are not mandatory until we are inside the plant's perimeter, but once inside the perimeter, COMs are off. Limit communication to hand signs. Watch for sentries and take note of any emergency exits. If anything goes to hell down there, we will need them." Hagan announces. "Everyone understand?" Three acknowledgement lights flick on. "Good. Gear up and rendezvous outside."

Yonalli's heads-up display tells him that the temperature outside of his suit is negative fifty degrees celsius. His military clock tells him that it is twenty-two twelve, but the sky is ice-blue. Уран's day lasts over fifty hours. Even during night, however, the day is bright. Уран has several moons that are locked to the planet's night side. All four moons reflect the light from the two stars, and Уран's atmosphere contains light better than Reach does, resulting in almost permanent day. Not that it mattered. The spartans don't need darkness to hide. Within a few minutes they would be covered in their own natural camouflage. You don't need special enhancements and painted gear to blend in with your environment.

For miles all Yonalli can see is white. He can't even see the horizon. The end of the ground and the beginning of the sky blend together in an endless wall of snow. For all he knows, the plant could be right in front of him. He wouldn't know until it was a foot away. Well, that's at least how it would be without his helmet's visor enhancements. A single target point plants itself just to the left of him with a distance meter measuring at .92 kilometers. Just seconds after it does, Odysseus COMs switch on.

"Target marked. Julian and Yonalli, you two are OD-1. You will be moving straight towards the complex. Tuskan and I are OD-2. We will move around to the rear end of the complex. OD-1 will take point at the front gate while OD-2 moves into the generator section. When the lights go down, the locks should as well. As soon as they do, OD-1 will rush towards sublevel 2 and rendezvous with Tuskan and I. VISRs should be enabled. I don't want any civilians harmed down there, not that we're expecting any. Does everyone understand?" When three acknowledgement lights flash on Hagan's HUD, he nods and marches off into the wall of snow. Tuskan looks at Yonalli for a moment.

"Be careful in there." Tuskan whispers through a private COM.

"Always am."

With a short nod and a pause, Tuskan disappears into the snow wall after Hagan. Yonalli looks to Julian, who is shutting the cargo ramp on the rear of the pelican. When it lets out a final hiss and ceases movement, Julian looks to Yonalli.

"At least we got the easier part, huh?" Yonalli jokes, snapping his MA3 to his back and dipping through the strap that holsters an M41 SPNKR Rocket Launcher, Yonalli's favorite weapon of choice. Julian stares at Yonalli for a second before shrugging and clipping his SRS99C Sniper Rifle to his back and brushing past Yonalli, fading into the snow wall. Yonalli activates his VISR, which silhouettes Julian in green. He turns to his right and sees the silhouettes of Tuskan and Hagan, already 100 meters away. After a moment of watching the two run further and further, Yonalli turns and chases after Julian.

1420 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) УРАН, EPSILON BOÖTIS SYSTEM (Uranium Plant 0A31)

Kane tried to slow his breathing, but nothing could calm him down. The noises outside were too much to bear. What ever was out there. Kane didn't know much at this point, but he did know two things. He HAD to keep silent, and he HAD to get out of here. He had the first one under control, but the second one... Well, he was still working on it. Inside this janitors closet, the only entrance blocked off by… By what had taken this plant. No one knew what it was.

They found it underground during a uranium expedition. An entire underground complex filled to the brim with projectors and glass containers. Locked doors were found at every turn, and the few that weren't locked opened at the mining team's approach. The rooms were dusty and old, probably the only sign that this wasn't a Covenant installation. But it was definitely alien, what with all the odd symbols and hard light panels. With a team that size, something was bound to get bumped into. What the team didn't expect was whatever… Whatever was inside that container… Kane had been in the back, so when the front end of the team came under attack, Kane was able to break into a sprint without anyone in the way. Him and his friend… What used to be his friend, he later learned, ran all the way back into the plant. Two entire kilometers of running. Kane didn't remember the last time he ran that distance without stopping. He didn't realize that his friend was no longer REALLY with him until he found himself trapped inside this janitors closet. Now he was forced to sit inside, listening, for what could've easily been several hours, to the inhuman moans and screeches outside. Kane had had time to think. He'd had time to plan. Now it was time to put the plan into action.

Kane opened the door slowly and carefully. He knew that the monster outside would notice the movement, but Kane wanted to stall what he was about to do. As he slowly inched the door open, the monster outside roared, charging the door. Just milliseconds before impact, Kane thrusted the door open and dove out. The monster that had been his friend soared through the doorway and crashed into the opposite end wall of the janitor's closet. Kane slammed the door shut and pulled a shelf down in front of the metal door that now shook with each impact that the monster made against it on the other side. The banging ceased after Kane had pulled the shelf down, and there was a moment of clarity. A moment of silence. Still, peaceful atmosphere. Then the monster inside did something new. Something Kane wished it had kept in its pocket of surprises.

It started with a low humming, then the pitch began to rise. Muffled by the door, the monster escalated its groan into a high pitched screech loud enough to mask out even the heavy machinery. Kane covered his ears in pain, wishing for the cry to end. And it did. Kane let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Then, the cry echoed up from the mines. It echoed hundreds of times. But the monster that had been Kane's friend wasn't making it anymore. They were communicating. The monsters were communicating. Many words were floating in his head just then.

Kane found a whole new athletic side of himself that he never knew he had, and he swore that the speed at which he ran could match even the fastest Warthog. Kane was scared. He was very scared. Up the stairs, Kane found himself in the canteen. Before the discovery of the mysterious room had been publicly disclosed, Kane had known about it. That information tended to spread like wildfire in a confined and isolated base in the middle of an inhospitable winter wasteland. Hayes, his late friend, was the one he heard the news from. Kane was apprehensive of the idea at first. A mysterious and hidden underground structure is not the most inviting thing. He was worried that it may be of Covenant origin, and that the team would stumble in on some emergency security measure. Looking back, Kane could say that he honestly would prefer that instead of what was actually waiting for his team in those dark and dank depths.

Kane took a right turn and slammed through a double door into the entrance hall. He knew what waited outside, and he knew he couldn't just walk right out in the outfit he was currently dressed in. Kane rushed to put on the snow suit. Though the situation was quite devoid of humor, he still managed a chuckle. So many times in the past had he slipped this suit on, relaxed and hesitant to face the bitter cold again. The suit was for survival, not comfort. As he looked back, he realized how spoiled he was to not want to face the cold simply for the fact that it was uncomfortable. Now he would willingly run out in the snow storm bare naked if it was the only way and it meant escape from this place.

By the time the suit was on, the airlock hatch had been riddled with dents that looked like rocket impacts. The screaming and groaning had not ceased for a second as Kane scrambled inside the snow suit. As soon as it was on, Kane pressed the release on the airlock and the door opposite of the dents slid open. Kane pressed through the snow, and out into the storm.

7 HOURS LATER

"I have eyes on the compound." Hagan reports through the team COMs after an entire hour of crawling through several feet of snow. "You see it yet Yonalli?"

"Not yet. Too much damn snow. Marker says we have about 300 meters before contact with the compound gate."

"Understood. Drop to your bellies at 150. Report after that."

"Gotcha."

Hagan rolls onto his side, pulls out his M6G and settles flat on the ground once more. He enables his heat optics and jumps slightly at the visuals. The entire facility glows white-gray against the pitch black background. Patches off the facility glow a perfect white, clumped together in corners. Hagan sees two white signatures in the distance on the opposite side of the facility. That must be Julian and Yonalli. But what Hagan doesn't understand is the third signature. Closer to the facility is a huddled gray shape. Not white like a human body. Then Hagan realizes that only Spartan armour is strong enough to keep all of the heat encased inside on a planet like this.

"Julian, Yonalli. I've got a live signature near the facility, barely. He's freezing, and I don't know how much longer he can stay out here. I am moving towards the compound." Hagan reports once more on the COMs. He sees the two signatures representing the other Spartans pause briefly.

"Understood. Meet you there." Yonalli responds shortly after.

"Whats up?" Tuskan asks, looking to Hagan.

"That man has been out here for awhile, and there must be a reason. I can't have him dying on us. You stay here and provide overwatch just in case anything shows up to screw my plans."

"Alrighty. Be careful down there."

Hagan stands up fast and jogs towards the complex. He switches off his thermal vision and checks his M6G, making sure none of the snow went where it was not supposed to. 50 meters from the complex and Hagan sees the huddled man. He is pressed into a corner with his entire body protected by a heat suit. They help outlast the cold for a pretty long time, but not forever. This man has been out for who knows how long. As Hagan closes the distance he notices that the airlock door is still gaping open. Hagan doesn't like this at all. Whatever is happening here is dangerous, but it doesn't seem like an Innie attack. What kind of force would drive a man into certain death just to escape? Why couldn't the security handle the Innie opposition? They were plenty abled. An entire platoon of marines was assigned to guard this facility with their lives, so why were they silenced so easily by, what was assumed to be, Innies? When Hagan reaches the freezing man, he drops to his knees and tasks his VISR with locating an IFF, Identification Friend or Foe, tag signal. The VISR screams with hundreds of IFF reports before identifying the man directly in front of Hagan. Kane Josemari. That was this man's name. The IFF report stated that he was a miner at the plant, and that his heartbeat was slow. The man had passed into a coma state once his body dropped to 26.6 degrees celsius, a temporary effect that a person would experience having been in temperatures this low for such a long amount of time. The IFF reports his body temperature at 23.3 degrees celsius. If Hagan hadn't found him, this man would surely have never woken up. Hagan hefts the man up from the ground with ease and carries him back into the airlock. Shutting the door behind him, Hagan sets the man down on a bench and begins examining the area. Before he finds any physical clues, Hagan notices the insane heat that fills the room almost immediately after the rear airlock is sealed. Hagan's suit air conditioning automatically switches on and he is quickly notified of the near-unsafe heat levels. Upon seeing this, Hagan begins to tear the man free of his snowsuit. He doesn't want to save this man from the bitter cold only to lose him to heat stroke. Once the man is free, Hagan forcefully peels the rear airlock slightly open once more, just enough to let in a cool breeze for the man. Hagan begins reviewing the hundreds of other IFF tags as he waits for Julian and Yonalli. Hundreds and hundreds of tags, soldiers, miners, officials, civilians. All… well… all dead. Except for this Josemari. First the extreme warmth, and now this. His thermal settings had also marked clumps of warmer areas, hadn't it? This isn't the kind of stuff Innies do. Unless they were changing their tactics? But what the hell would they be doing? Hagan decides to peek through the front airlock and get a look at what the heat sigs were. As Hagan reaches for the door, a raspy voice calls to him.

"Don't do it… Please." The man pleads, lifting his hand to Hagan.

"Don't worry Josemari. You're safe. _Ode to Joy_ sent us when your base stopped transmitting. What did the Innie's do here?" Hagan began explaining.

"Not… Insurrectionists… Please…"

"Covenant?"

"No… Something else… They take people. Spartans too." Hagan paused at that. Something else? The war didn't need something else.

Just as Hagan began to ask what that something else is, a banging on the rear door caused Josemari to jump. Hagan stood back up and peeked through the rear airlock.

"Hagan. Let us in." Yonalli whispered from the other side.

Hagan manually pulled the two doors apart just enough for the two Spartans to squeeze through before crushing it back shut. Julian kneeled beside the man whilst Yonalli spun back around to meet Hagan.

"Hagan, we have to move. IFF friendly signals are moving to the airlock."

"But the IFF's aren't emitting life signs." Hagan explains.

"Exactly." Yonalli clearifies.


	3. Chapter 2

-2-

2145 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) УРАН, EPSILON BOÖTIS SYSTEM (Uranium Plant 0A31)

"This is definitely at the top of the chart when it comes to stupid shit I've done in my life." Yonalli whispers through COMs. He didn't need to whisper, COMs weren't out loud. But this atmosphere made you want to whisper. As if the halls could hear your thoughts, even if they weren't forefront.

Hagan and Yonalli had delved deeper into the plant, leaving Julian to watch Josemari and Tuskan to keep watch outside. The IFF signals had come close to the airlock before quickly retreating down deep into the facility. Hagan was eager to find out what was going on, and insisted they go after the signals. As they move, they pass by grotesque lobs of meat and organic material, all the same desaturated green and brown color. The masses pulse as if they are breathing, and the occasional scream echoes through the halls. The lighting is dark and orange, what little light that is visible shines through a layer of organic material, tinting it. Machinery rumbles through walls, and the facility shakes. Yonalli and Hagan's footsteps echo as replies to the screeching voices that hide in the shadows. The snowy wind outside in addition with whatever else was in the room with the two Spartans whispered and howled. The two Spartans were conditioned to not feel emotions as strong as a normal man, but what little fear they did feel was amplified a thousand times by the movement just beyond their field of view, or the footsteps that continued even after they had stopped moving. They were being watched. They both knew it. It was obvious, and they weren't afraid of that. They had been watched before. The fear came from not knowing _what_ was watching them. It had always been Covies, ONI agents, Innie operatives. But this was something else… and it wasn't anything they expected. Pulse-less IFF's edged through the halls. Dead signals, ghosts. They didn't see their watchers for a solid 30 minutes. Just shifts and screeches. The first sighting happened at the discovery of the excavation hole.

"Hagan. Are you seeing this too?" Yonalli whispers.

"How can I miss it?"

The miner crawls out from the excavation pit, and stands tall in front of the two Spartans. His details are hard to pick out, as his silhouette stands in front of the blue mining light. The figure consists of many different odd attachments that are easy to notice, however. Like how his arm splits into two extensions, one normal length ending in fingers, the other stretching farther and farther, longer than his entire body, dragging across the floor behind him. His head rests lifelessly on his shoulder, sagging behind whenever he movs. He stands there for a few seconds before taking another step towards the Spartans.

"VISR up. Keep your finger on the trigger and the barrel on that figure." Hagan orders, doing everything he can to keep his voice from trembling. He disables his COMs and speaks aloud.

"We're UNSC, if you could just stand down and move slowly towards us, we can talk." Hagan speaks, shifting his legs and lifting his rifle slightly more. The figure stands still, takes another small step, and barks quietly.

"He's not responding. What do we do?" Yonalli asks through the private COMs.

"I'm gonna move closer. Don't let your guard down." Hagan responds, reluctantly moving a foot forward.

Hagan approaches the silhouette, rifle raised and eyes keeping watch of every movement the figure makes. Just as he moves close enough to see its face, he notices something off. Where was his face? There were no eyes… No mouth, no nose… Just big brown clumps. Then the figure slashes towards Hagan. Hagan lunges back as the air in front of him cracks. The whip-like arm fills the void that Hagan had just dipped from and cuts the air in half. Yonalli's rifle roars and the monster shivers as a storm of bullets consumes its organic form. Neither Hagan nor Yonalli cease fire until their ammo counters read out as zero. A waste of ammo to be sure, if one looks at the situation with a tactical sense. But Hagan and Yonalli fired out of pure fear, without tacticality in mind. The figure does not get up, and as the two Spartans approach the corpse, they are sure the monster is dead. Their 7.62mm FMJ rounds ripped the organic components of the creature to shreds.

"What do you reckon _that _is?" Yonalli asks, nudging the pile of organic material with the barrel of his rifle. "Don't look like no damn Innies to me."

"Whatever it is, it seems to have originated from the excavation pit." Hagan replies, lifting the whip-like arm for closer inspection. "And it seems to be molded in the perfect style for combat. It's not natural evolution. It's a weapon."

"Looks like a man to me. A very disturbed man." Yonalli cracks.

"Remember what that survivor said? They take people." Hagan asks, twirling around to face Yonalli.

"So it _is_ a man?" Yonalli's voice twists in fear or disgust. Most likely both.

"Seems like it. Either way, we need to keep moving. I don't want this spreading from the facility. Imagine a force like this… on Earth." Hagan explains, hopping down into the excavation pit. Instead of an earthy sound on impact with the bottom, Hagan splashes into more of the odd organic material. He stomps around in the odd substance for a time, trying to find the rest of the way down. Once he regroups with Yonalli at the entrance tunnel, Hagan activates his helmet lights and lifts his rifle. The two Spartans delve deeper into the tunnel, before the only lights are the ones on their helmets.

Julian had been waiting for some time, awaiting the return of his squadmates. It had been awhile since they had stepped into the facility, and Julian wondered if they would ever return. The survivor had kept him company, but there was no real conversation. The man slept and Julian sat. Waiting. He felt slightly more comfortable knowing that Tuskan had his back outside. But that wasn't the issue. The threat is inside the facility, and if something were to push past Hagan and Yonalli, Julian didn't want to have to face it alone. Before the two Spartans had left Julian alone, they had sent a rescue request to _Ode to Joy_ in hopes of a pelican extraction for the lone survivor. The Spartans could easily make it back to their own ride, but they weren't sure about the man. He was in no condition for long-distance travel, and their ride sat more than a kilometer away.

As Julian sat here waiting, he had heard a number of sounds that he had never heard before, and wishes that he'd never heard in the first place. He had plenty of time to run a rag over his rifle many times. Disassemble it, defrost it, clean it, oil it, reassemble it, repeat. He did this every thirty minutes to make sure his rifle was in peak condition when an enemy arrived. Julian doesn't mind the close quarters. He had grown quite close with his rifle, and is sure he could take on any enemy with it, no matter the range. It is an ability he is quite proud of, though he doesn't boast of it very often. Julian tries to keep quiet as often as he can, as he doesn't like questions. Questions lead to bad things, like his true identity. Truth is, Julian doesn't honestly agree with the UNSC very much. He had originally been an Insurrectionist rifleman during the revolution, but when the Covenant had begun their attack, the UNSC was the only safe place to hide. No one else knows of his previous identity, and he prefers to keep it that way. He wants to leave his old profile behind. He isn't proud of the things the Insurrectionists had done, but it was a hell of a lot better than the things the UNSC did. So Julian decided to put his skills against the Covenant. The ultimate enemy. He is such a good shot, that even as a Spartan III, he is aloud operations with Spartan II squadrons, an example of which being Odysseus. He is the only Spartan III in their fireteam. But that doesn't change a damn thing. He knows he can probably shoot better than any Spartan II, and he doesn't need any fancy double decade brain washing to do it. All he needs is his rifle, and an enemy to put in his crosshairs.

Julian straightened up and looked back at the civilian. He was asleep. Julian felt bad for the man. To have endured this hell and not be immediately evacuated. The others didn't understand. They were Spartan IIs, and they didn't experience fear and emotion the same way ordinary people did. Julian hadn't gone through the same mental augmentation that they went through, so he found empathy for the man. He would want to be rid of this place as soon as possible as well. As Julian watched the sleeping man, making sure he was kept safe, he heard something outside. Julian quickly spun his head around to face the door, and took a step forward. It was a familiar sound. A scream. Not an organic one, but a replicated one. The sound that always came before the storm. He could swear he had just heard the screech of a Banshee.

Banshees were covenant reconnaissance and assault aircraft. They earned their name from the banshee-like cry their mechanical bodies made in a hard bank. They had two plasma multi-cannons, and a large green explosive fuel rod cannon. They were known for their brutal strafes and bombing runs. They had been the main cause of death for so many fleeing civilians during Covenant assault. Anyone trying to run or hid, who somehow escaped Covenant ground assault, would be run down by Banshee multi-cannons. Every experienced UNSC marine knew the sound. It was the most infamous sound on the battlefield. And Julian could swear he heard one just outside. On this barren, frozen, wasteland.

At first he tried to convince himself that it was only the wind. But the sound was just too familiar. So he decided to check. He was experienced enough were he would know what to do if there really was something out there. Julian looked back at the civilian, and then began his trek outside. The man would be alright for just a few minutes. Julian could ensure that. As Julian pried the door open and stared at the blank snowy hell once more, he heard the familiar cry again. This time, above him. He hit the dirt (well, snow in this case), and checked his surroundings. There was nothing but white snow all around him, but he could swear he saw something move just out of his field of vision. He looked to where he had seen the figure, trying desperately to make out what it was. Then he heard a sound. No, not the cry of a banshee. Something a lot worse. He heard speech. Sangheili speech. Julian saw two bipedal figures only seconds after the alien words had been spoken, and he knew exactly what was going on. Julian sprinted back inside, not before gaining the attention of the two bipedal figures, who fired blue rounds of plasma in his direction. Julian slid inside and grabbed the two sides of the door, pulling them together with literally all his strength. Just as the two sides of the door had smashed together did a plasma round squeeze its way through and smash into Julian's shield. The Covenant was here. And Odysseus was trapped.

"Hagan, Yonalli, Julian! Covenant have been spotted closing in on your position! It looked like a small recon team at first, but I've got more dropships closing in!" Tuskan shouted over COMs. It took Hagan a few seconds to respond, but when he finally did, it was clear that he was in some trouble of his own.

"Understood Tuskan… Kinda busy down here. Yonalli and I will attempt to breach the surface once more and meet up with Julian. You keep yourself hidden. Don't try to play heroics. Do you understand?"

"I hear ya loud and clear. Disengaging from the Covenant forces. I'll be up here if you need me for anything." Tuskan responded. "Switching off COMs from now on to keep myself hidden. Be careful you three."

"Understood. Be careful." Hagan closed. Julian still had a problem of his own. The Sangheili had begun to breach the airlock.

Julian hefted the civilian from the temporary bed and over his Titanium-A shoulder padding. They had to ditch this airlock and find more cover further inside the structure. Yonalli kicked the second door open and breached the inner facility. The main room was a large orange cave-like space with a enormous cylindrical container that spanned all the way up the 3 story room. It was a uranium core, and it was the only thing casting the orange atmosphere. All around it were computers and chairs. Many were uprooted and ripped apart. The walls were covered in biomass, and one of the computers flashed red text which said "_WARNING: URANIUM CORE SHIELDING RETRACTED. URANIUM CORE EXPOSED." _The Geiger Counter on Julian's HUD clicked faster than it had ever clicked before. The meter was stuck to the side that read _E_. Luckily, Julian's armour could keep him safe from such conditions, but he had to get the civilian man out before he was smoked by radiation poisoning. Julian jogged down a hallway and activated a sliding door. He shut the door behind him and enabled the security lock on the control panel. That would buy him some time. Then Julian heard the sound again. That screeching. But Julian noticed something else about this room. Something that would put him in the worst situation he had ever been in, in his entire life.

Julian had stumbled into a mess hall. And the mess hall had skylights. Skylights that had been shattered by the rounded purple body that had lowered itself through them and hovered in front of Julian. Shattered by the large covenant banshee, painted in mysterious alien symbols, that floated at Julian's face and charged its plasma multi-cannons.

Tuskan hadn't been hidden long before Covenant forces spotted him. He knew he couldn't hide for long. After COMs had been cut, a Covenant cruiser broke through the atmosphere and docked itself just above the facility. Dropship after dropship jumped from the cruiser and descended to the ground, unloading more and more Covenant soldiers. Tuskan had attempted to reposition his hiding spot, but there was really no chance.

Tuskan hops down from a snowy hill and slides to the ground. Plasma fire roars overhead as Tuskan scurries to a halt. A banshee dives towards him from the direction in which he is running. Tuskan leaps to his left and charges into a full sprint. He flips the MA3 from his back and turns to face his pursuers. Whilst still running, he opens fire on the group of Covenant. Their shields glow in sync, and one drops. A ball of plasma punches Tuskan in the chest. He winces and turns forward to gain speed. He doesn't know where he is going, but it's better than here. Tuskan pushed harder on his legs than he ever had before, and that's what he heard the familiar canned alarm from the banshee behind him. The sound that always came before the green explosion of a fuel rod cannon. Tuskan knew exactly what he was going to do. It happened in a total of 2.3 seconds, but to Tuskan, thanks to Spartan time, it felt like a full minute of planning and success. Tuskan halts in place and jumps. The fuel rod soars below his feet and smashes into the ground. The power of the explosion completely knocks his inertia in the direction of the banshee. Tuskan lands on top and grabs the rear point of the teardrop shaped top hatch of the banshee. He forces it up and grabs the sangheili elite by the ankle and yanks it from the aircraft. The elite shouts all the way down, but its cry is cut silent as soon as its head crashes into the snowy floor below.

Tuskan climbs inside and banks a hard left with the banshee. The group of Covenant soldiers take notice in the turning tide and all react in their own way. Some grunts and jackals break into a full sprint, while most duck for nearby cover. Tuskan points the nose of the banshee down and presses the green button on the left flight stick. A bright green rod rockets from the front of the banshee and imbeds itself into a rock that some Covenant were taking cover behind. A half of a second later and the rod detonates, caving the rock in and sending fragments into the air. Some of the fragments stick into the silhouettes of different Covenant soldiers. Some fly carelessly into the air, to land a few meters away in the snow. With some more distance to cover before the banshee glides overhead the Covenant position, Tuskan sprays the cover with the plasma multi-cannons. An elite drops, then a jackal. Tuskan is above the cover now, and he ditches the banshee. The aircraft is smacked with all sorts of Covenant fire. It detonates into a hail of purple metal within seconds. The attack and explosion was so bright that nothing knew Tuskan escaped the banshee until he had landed right next to them. Tuskan uses the surprise to his advantage and opened fire. He dropped 2 elites and a grunt before the aliens had time to return fire. He dodged the barrage and knocked down the last jackal in their group. The falling alien released its charged plasma shot, which hit Tuskan in his thigh.

The Spartan rolled to the ground. His shield sizzled out. He wasn't injured, the impact of the shot knocking out his shield was painful, and it had hit him in his femoral nerve. He was quick to recover, but he had covenant guns trained on him before he could stand all the way up. If he moved, he was dead. So Tuskan just sat there. An elite in full yellow armour stepped up to the Spartan with its plasma rifle outstretched to him. It spoke, and the translator in Tuskan's gear did its job. The technology was limited, and not all of the covenant's language was fully understood, so bits and pieces of the statement were missing, but the message got across anyways.

"_You have bided time, concealing what we hunt. Now we are here to confiscate what you have pilfered."_ The elite outstretches its empty hand to Tuskan, as if it is expecting him to give something over.

"I don't have whatever it is you're looking for. But I do have this…" Tuskan trails off. As the shield meter on Tuskan's HUD reads fully charged, Tuskan smirks behind his visor. The elite notices the shield boot up, but before it can react, Tuskan is on his feet.

The Spartan flips his M6D up and pops a round into the yellow armoured alien's face. It drops into the snow with a crunch. Being the last elite, or even commanding officer, in the group, the last few grunts scurry off into the snow storm, shouting as they disappear from view. Tuskan sighs and slides the pistol back into its holster. He peers around to actually take in where he was, and then begins his march back to the top of the hill at which he once laid. Once at the top, Tuskan takes in the view that once was the lone facility. Now the place crawls with Covenant foot soldiers. Tuskan swears to himself before sliding down the hill and into the Covenant nest.

Hagan coughs and hops down from his position. The cave down was uneven, and often required the two spartans to drop from heights in order to reach the next section of cave. Yonalli grunts and pushes past some odd organic wire hanging from the cave ceiling. The two had been moving downward for some time, leaving Julian to keep an eye on the mysterious man they had found freezing in the snow. The two heard noises now and again, but they continued their trek forward, into the deep unknown. At some point the cave emptied into a narrow hallway, alien doors and dusty windows on either side. The walls, ceilings, and floors were a bluish steel, dusty from age. Their color was only enhanced by the ambient steel-blue light that seemed to radiate from an unknown source

"Do you have any idea, or any guess for that matter, as to what is even down here?" Yonalli asks between breaths. The oxygen levels were low down here, so the two spartans had to switch to their reserves. It took some time to get used to everytime it happened, and Yonalli was still adapting to the switch.

"Not a damn clue. But I'd like to figure it out before those rescue pelicans arrive." Hagan answers, wiping organic goo from the top of his rifle.

"Or, you know, we could just blow it up and get the hell outta here…" Yonalli mumbles.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea. Whatever the hell is here, it definitely isn't alone… Do you see the layout of this place? It looks like containment. More locked doors than there are specs of dust around here. The glass is resistant to conventional ammunition, and explosives. Filtration devices all about the ceiling… I think this brown shit is some type of disease. And diseases don't just start spreading on some random lifeless ice world. Someone put this stuff here, meaning there is more somewhere else. If we can learn anything from this mess, it could prepare us for future encounters."

"Okay, so we take samples home and study them. Then what? What do we do about this mess?" Yonalli ask's, easing in to Hagan's idea.

"Then we do it your way. We nuke the entire facility from orbit and go along with our merry day." Hagan finishes.

"Alright then. That sounds like an actual plan…" Yonalli is cut off by Hagan, whose hand pushes Yonalli down into a crouched position. Hagan motions towards one of the dusty windows. Yonalli peeks through to meet his vision with whatever Hagan had seen. He regretted it as soon as he did. Whatever was inside was different from the humanoid creature the two spartans had encountered at the top of the cave entrance. A small sort of bubble with tendrils that it crawled upon every surface with. Its color matches that of the unusual biomass in the upper levels. The creature squirms around the walls, exploring the room. Hagan shifts to get a better view, but just as he does, the creature shrieks and jumps to the floor. Hagan shoots up as it disappears into another room. Hagan grabs Yonalli by the shoulder and lifts him up.

"We need to get after that thing." Hagan commands in a hushed tone.

Yonalli follows after Hagan. The two spartans shift their way to the door. The alien architecture shifts, spinning in the center before parting in the middle. It was the only unlocked door in the entire structure.

"Hurry. This way." Hagan whispers. The two spartans sprint through the empty room. Yonalli tries harder to pace his breath. Hagan slips behind the corner before Yonalli. Yonalli hears gunfire where Hagan had just disappeared. He readies his rifle and twists around the corner. Upon entering the room, he arrives just in time to see the bubble-like creature burrow its way into the chest of a corpse. A worker with his hard-hat still strapped to his head. Hagan holds his fire and just stares.

The two spartans stare in awe as the corpse shakes violently. Gore sprays from the chest of the man. Tearing and ripping noises fill the room. Then, all goes silent. Two tendrils from the bubble creature emerge from the scrambled chest, and the corpse begins to move.

"Hagan, we gotta go." Yonalli whispers. The other spartan just stares, his rifle lowered. No response. "Hagan!" Yonalli yells this time.

Hagan shakes his head and backs away slowly. The two spartans walk slowly back the way they came, never turning their backs to the corpse. They watch as the arm is eaten partly away, before it begins to regrow with biomass. The arm grows back larger than the original limb, splitting halfway through into two long pointed tendrils. The corpse still shakes violently, with whatever was left of the man's face foaming at the mouth. Biomass begins to spread over the entire body, snapping the man's neck, filling in his mouth, covering all wounds on his body. Large puffs of biomass grow on his left shoulder, further pushing the broken neck to itss limit. Then it begins to stand.

"Run. Yonalli run!" Hagan shouts before turning tail. Yonalli fires a few bursts at the, now walking, corpse. The creature shrieks the most violent of shrieks. An inhuman cry that seems to rip at the corpse's decaying vocal chords. The shriek is returned by other creatures hidden within the facility. And they get closer every second.

Yonalli turns and chases after Hagan. As he breaks back out into the hallway he watches as Hagan runs deeper into the facility.

"Hagan! What are you doing?" Yonalli shouts out. He never needed to hear Hagan's response. A herd of the standing corpse, covered head to toe in biomass, come charging from the cave's entrance shrieking and bellowing.

Yonalli turns after Hagan and hauls ass. Hagan puts bursts of his rifle into the crowd behind the two spartans, but nothing seems to slow them down. At a split in the hallway, Hagan jerks left.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Yonalli asks in between breaths whilst taking shots at the group of biomass.

"I have a layout of the mining team's expedition. Found it on a terminal at the top of the facility. There is only one other unlocked door in this facility and it's this way." Hagan explains in a calmed tone. You wouldn't even know he was in a hurry, out of context. "Almost there! Just keep running!" Hagan grunts.

Yonalli would have kept running, if it wasn't for the tendril that cracked at his right shoulder like a whip. The force knocked his shields completely offline and put a large gash right into the Titanium A shoulder padding. Yonalli comes to a rolling halt beside Hagan, screaming in pain. The spartan hefts Yonalli off the ground and tosses him through the open door before diving in after him. A tendril slashes at Hagan's leg, but bounces off of his energy shielding. Hagan rams his shoulder into the control panelling of the door, and it slams shut.

Yonalli grunts and grasps at his shoulder. "The bone is completely shattered. I don't think I'll be moving this thing for awhile."

Hagan stomps over to Yonalli and looks at the wound. "Your armour is breached. If it wasn't for the leather of your under armour-" Hagan reaches into the cracked armour and peels off a tiny brown-red spore from the black leather of Yonalli's under armour. "-you'd probably be gone by now."

"Frightening." Yonalli groans, rolling his eyes under his helmet.

"So. An infection. Guess you were right, huh." Yonalli grunts and cackles slightly, followed by a sharp intake of air. "I can't even laugh without it hurting like hell."

"Your suit hasn't boosted you yet?" Hagan turns quickly, his tone inquisitive.

"Surprisingly not. Maybe it was damaged?" Yonalli responds, looking up at Hagan as he suddenly realises how much of a problem that is. "If I'm hit somewhere hard, I won't be able to recover…"

"That just means you need to be more careful. You can do that, can't you?" Hagan asks while checking the lock on the door.

"We don't need to worry too much about those things anymore, so not getting hit should be easy. But now we're trapped. Starvation will probably kill us first. Being careful won't save us unless we get outta here."

"I get it Yonalli. I'm doing my best here." Hagan fiddles with the alien lock configuration for a short time before turning back to Yonalli. "Those things are still out there. Radar confirms movement. A lot of it. Even if this door could be repaired, we wouldn't be able to leave the way we came." That got a groan out of Yonalli.

They were stuck down here, separated from Tuskan and Julian. The last transmission they had received was Tuskan warning them of Covenant presence. That civilian they had encountered now only had Julian to protect him. Hagan had given Tuskan strict orders not to engage, and knowing Tuskan, he'd obey those orders.

"We need to let the other two know about the situation." Yonalli grunted, standing up. The spartan reached for the release on his helmet before Hagan snatched his arm.

"Yonalli. We can't risk taking off our helmets. If this is an infection, it can most likely be spread airborne." Yonalli lowered his arm and nodded. "And to answer your statement, we can't contact them."

"What? Why not?" Yonalli asked whilst slapping a new magazine into his MA3.

"If the Covenant is really here, any communication would create an immediate threat to Tuskan and Julian. If the Covenant were to listen in and gain knowledge on our seperation, they'd strike harder. Julian is only a Spartan III. He'd be wiped out immediately. Tuskan is too far separated from Julian, and by the time he reaches the III to help, he'd be alone against an entire Covenant army." Hagan explains, letting go of the alien lock and watching it fall back against the wall where it had originally been, break on impact and fall to the floor.

"Dammit. This sucks so much. We can't do anything." Yonalli mumbles, kicking the lock across the room.

"We still haven't explored that way." Hagan whispers.

The two spartans turn to face the other side of the room. Except they can't see it. Hagan had probably noticed right away, but in the confusion Yonalli missed it completely. The room wasn't a room at all. It was a hallway. The other end of the hall was pitch black, a steel blue light flickering on and off once every few minutes. Yonalli lifted his rifle up to his shoulder, pointing it down the hall. He took slow steps forward, the squeal of the hydraulics in his boots being the only noise audible. The banging on the door had stopped just then, but Yonalli hadn't been paying much attention to that anyway. What concerned him was where this hallway led. On his HUD, he had the schematical layout of the facility displayed. Hagan had transferred a copy to him, and he had taken notice of something odd. On the layout, this room was a small 13 by 12 foot room. What was down this hallway? Did it change after the creation of the layout? Or was it left out on purpose? Yonalli felt concern. An emotion he hadn't felt in a long time due to the Spartan II augmentations. Now his stomach churned with a new emotion… Fear?

"Yonalli!" Hagan shouted, grabbing the Spartan by the shoulder. The shout snapped Yonalli out of his trance.

"What?" Yonalli asked, turning his head to face Hagan.

"The contacts. They're gone!"

Yonalli looked at his own HUD in time to spot a single red dot fleeing out of the radar's range. These things weren't sentient were they? Why would they leave their food? Unless they found another way to get to it…

"Hagan, I don't think this room is gonna last very long. We need to get out _right now_."

"Only one way to go." Hagan said and looked back down the hall.


	4. Chapter 3

-3-

0112 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 4, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) УРАН, EPSILON BOÖTIS SYSTEM (Uranium Plant 0A31)

The plasma repeaters roared as Julian threw the civilian and dived into the opposite direction. A ball of plasma ripped through Julian's shoulder plating. The spartan quickly regained his footing and jumped onto the bulky face of the banshee aircraft. Just as he did the fuel rod cannon coughed up a green bomb that detonated where Julian had just been standing. The explosion threw Julian, and he slammed into the banshee. The impact knocked the wind from his chest, but he kept moving. As he climbed up the head of the aircraft, blue clumps of plasma soared past his head. A mass of the plasma struck his head. The Spartan recoiled, falling from the top of the banshee. His helmet sizzled and melted, his shields having been knocked out from the banshee's fuel rod cannon. Julian tossed his helmet to the side and looked to his right. An elite sprinted through the doorway, alongside a jackal ranger. This was a real problem.

Julian snatched his MA3 from his back and opened fire on the elite who had shot him. The alien's shield flared up, and the banshee opened fire again. Two plasma rounds smashed into him, and his shield dropped. As he backed away, the jackal ranger fired a carbine round into Julian's leg. The Spartan slipped and fell onto his back. As he tried to get up, the banshee fired another stream of plasma. The plasma laddered up his body, hitting his legs, his chest, and his neck. The last round came inches from his head. Julian coughed and let his head fall to the floor. He had to think. He was injured bad, and he couldn't radio for help. But before he thought up a plan, the elite gave him one.

The alien marched up to Julian and wrapped its four fingers around his throat. Its grip tightened, and it lifted him from the ground. The alien stood at an insane eight feet tall, enough to bring Julian's feet off the ground.

"_Human. We know what your demon allies have found._" The elite loosens its grip slightly and stares intently into Julian's eyes. "_I can ensure that your death is one with honour, if only you shed light on the location of what we hunt._"

"Come closer. I'll shed all the light you want." Julian mocked, but surprisingly, the elite complied, inching its face closer to the Spartan's.

Julian parted his lips slightly, letting the tensity in the elite's eyes build. Before the hulking alien could react, Julian shoved his boot into the elite's gut. The alien bellowed, and Julian fell to the ground. He elbowed the elite's shoulder and yanked at its wrist. The energy sword it wielded clattered to the floor, the plasma blade vanishing as the metal hilt settled. The elite quickly stood up, firing plasma at Julian. Thanks to the dialogue, his shield had partially recharged, taking the shots without any injury to Julian.

The Spartan sprinted towards the elite, scooping up the hilt from the ground and activating it. He thrust the blade into the elite's abdomen, the alien's eyes widening in shock. The banshee tilted towards Julian, ready to fire. The Spartan quickly yanked the plasma rifle from the elite's hand and jumped back as the banshee opened fire. A hail of plasma punched the elite's shoulders and face, melting all organic material as the creature collapsed into a heap. The jackal hissed and lifted up its carbine, but Julian had already put several plasma charges into the air, which quickly jumped to the jackal's chest and knocked the alien down. Then the banshee began to move. The room was not very big, and definitely not maneuverable for a banshee. It enabled its thrusters and charged Julian at ramming speed. The Spartan leaned forward in an attempt to run, but the aircraft caught him and crushed him against a wall. Julian grunted, twisting his arm free from between himself and the banshee. Blood poured from cracks in his Titanium A armour, and alerts screamed from his helmet that lay on the ground nearby.

Julian grunted, he could barely get a breath. Something had ripped open a lung, and he was losing air. The Spartan used everything in his power to tug his arm free. Something snapped inside the limb, but he was in too much pain everywhere else to even notice. The banshee had him pinned between its guns and the wall. So when Julian felt a heat building up against the left side of his chest, he knew what was coming. Julian screamed as loud as he could, all the pain in his body building up strength in his soul. A boost of adrenaline hit him like a tidal wave. This whole situation pissed Julian off. He looked right at the banshee and yelled at it. Julian was going to kill the sonofabitch alien inside, even if it literally killed him too.

Julian slammed his open palm against the nose of the banshee, wrapping his fingers around the edges of the hatch. With all of his might, he pulled. He felt the plasma discharge of the banshee's guns, but he didn't stop. His shield was dropping fast, but he continued to pull. He heard the wrenching of metal, something smashed inside the banshee, and before he knew it, the hatch put up less and less of a fight. Julian screamed at the top of his lungs one last time, using every last bit of breath he had, and ripped the hatch clean off of the top of the banshee. The guns stopped firing just as his shield had reached its final bit of charge. The banshee's engine died, and the hovering aircraft slammed to the floor. The elite inside, noticing the sudden flare of light in its cockpit, looked up to face Julian. It stared in fear for a few seconds, before jolting up and reaching for the plasma rifle in its holster. Julian was faster.

Julian pushed the metal hunk that once was the banshee, the metal screeching and shuddering. As soon as there was enough room between him and the banshee, Julian collapsed to the floor. Julian coughed up blood, something he hadn't done in a while. He pushed against the floor, trying to lift his body up. All his energy was completely gone. Julian was sure that he might not survive. It wasn't long before he saw spilling blood pool up and race around his shoulder. Julian inhaled, realizing that he couldn't breathe at all. His chest burned, and it almost felt like he was exhaling as he inhaled, the oxygen leaving as soon as it came in. He could breathe, but not nearly as much as he'd like to right now. Julian couldn't radio Tuskan unless he could get to his helmet. The covenant patrol had been dealt with, but there were definitely more coming. Julian had to be in fighting condition, and he needed Tuskan's help. Julian reached his left arm out and grabbed the floor. He pulled, dragging his body across the floor, leaving a thick trail of blood behind him. His left hand touched his chest, and he reached out with his right hand, again grabbing the floor and pulling with all of his strength. Before he even got halfway, Julian collapsed flat against the floor again.

Julian wasn't able to take in any more air. No matter how sharp his intakes were, it seemed as if no air was coming in. Julian began to choke, coughing and gagging for any air he could get. He grabbed his throat, his vision becoming blurry. Julian began to shake, his body seeming to shut down. The metal interior began to fade away, the dark light brightening. Julian closed his eyes for only a moment, and when he opened them he was in a field of tall blue grass. He looked up to see the familiar bright warmth of 23 Librae. He saw his farm on Madrigal in the distance. The spartan stood up, no longer clad in Titanium A, or broken and bleeding. Julian sniffed the air, filling his lungs, before beginning his long walk to the structure. The structure that was his home.

Kane opened his eyes, blinking at the sudden intake of light that the skylights sent his way. The skylights… Kane shot up, his senses all activating at once. The familiar smell of the Uranium plant filled his nostrils, and the deafening sound of alarms screeching overloaded his eardrums. He blinked again as his head began to ache. He grunted and rubbed his temples.

Why was he back inside the facility? Why the mess hall? Kane glanced about, his eyes adjusting to the lighting. He noticed everything right away. A jackal sat against a wall, its arms sprawled out and its chest still smoking from the black spots on its armour. An elite was curled into a pile of armour and leathery flesh, its cold dead arms still gripping its abdomen where a blade of energy protruded out. Then there was the alien aircraft, its hatch ripped off and its pilot blanketed in melting armour. It sizzled still, having been blasted numerous times with an energy weapon, to the point where the alien's armour color was unknown. And in the middle of it all was a spartan lying in his own pool of blood, unmoving.

Kane stared in awe, his jaw had actually dropped. He closed it and stood up slowly. The stench of burning alien flesh was slightly un-bearable. But Kane needed to help this Spartan, and fast. The blood was still pooling up, growing larger. If he still had blood to bleed, he wasn't completely gone yet. Kane walked over to the Spartan and kneeled down. The Spartan had left a trail of blood, meaning he had been moving. Kane evaluated his path, and eventually came to the conclusion that the Spartan was trying to get his helmet. Kane stood back up and walked over to the helmet before picking it up. The visor had melted once it had been struck with plasma, but only slightly. The burn had cooled now, and it should be safe to put on. Kane slid the helmet onto the Spartan. The helmet hissed before clicking on. The blaring alerts silenced as the helmet sealed. Kane saw the Spartan's back rise and fall softly, and he let out a breath of relief. The Spartan was still alive, but in his condition, Kane didn't know for how long. There were other Spartans, he remembered. Maybe one of them could help. The only problem was that Kane had no idea where they were. It looked like they had been split up once the Covenant had arrived. This one must have grabbed Kane in an attempt to bring him to safety. Kane might only be alive thanks to this man. He had to get to work. The sooner he could contact the other Spartans, the sooner he could get help. If he knew what he was doing, he might be able to interface his radio with the Spartan's HUD and contact the others. Kane lifted the Spartan slightly and checked his armour tag. K590. That was as close as he was going to get for a name for now. This K590 might not be too happy about Kane's work, but he was saving the man's life. It was a small price to pay.

Kane was sure that what he was about to do was very illegal, but he was out of options. Kane rolled K590's face over and observed the back of the helmet. He had seen Spartans connect Artificial Intelligences to the rear port of their helmet, and that AI was in turn able to access all of the armour's diagnostics and statistics. If Kane could do the same without completely destroying the port, he could easily access the Spartan's HUD. Kane slid his radio from his toolbelt and began work on the port.

Yonalli cleared his throat and slowly walked forward. The atmosphere was eerie. Not a sound broke the silence that filled the corridor. When Yonalli approached the door, it slid up, revealing a large room, dimly lit by blue-steel lights. In the center of the large room was a set of stairs that led to a tall pedestal, a hole in the ceiling allowed natural light to poor through and illuminate an alien control panel. The room was extremely large, yet completely empty other than the pedestal. Corners of the room were unlit, and Yonalli could swear he saw shifts in movement just beyond his view. This room was completely untouched by the parasitic biomass, however, and remained in top condition. Not a speck of dust could be seen, as if something was taking great care of the room. Yonalli approached the stairs, glancing about as he did. Hagan followed close behind, his rifle raised and ready to engage in short notice. Yonalli held up his hand and walked up the stairs alone.

Yonalli glanced up to where the light was pouring in. A glass ceiling looked out above ground, though the view was covered by a blanket of snow, sunlight pouring through. Yonalli glanced back at Hagan and nodded. The Spartan quickly made his way up the stairs after Yonalli. The two approached the hovering holographic console. It glowed an aura similar in color to the corridor lights. Symbols panned across the console, disappearing when they reached an edge that could not be seen. One symbol in particular was circular in shape, which hovered above another circle. The two symbols had jagged edges that allowed them to fit together like puzzle pieces if puzzle pieces went on top each other rather than next to. Every few seconds, the top circle would rise, disconnecting from the bottom circle, and spin before lowering itself and connecting again. It was a large symbol, and it was the first thing Yonalli pressed. As soon as he did, the floating console vanished, and the platform shifted. Yonalli glanced to Hagan as the inhuman screeches of the brown monsters filled the entire room.

"Yonalli? What did you do?" Hagan asked, turning around to face the dimly lit corners of the room and raising his rifle.

"I… I don't know… It was odd. I felt attracted to it. Like I was supposed to push it… Like I _had_ to push it." Yonalli mumbled, looking at where the console once was.

"Yonalli, get your rifle ready! Our friends are back." Hagan shouted. Yonalli quickly glanced up. His eyes widened under his helmet. A crowd of biomass crawled from the shadows, the mechanical crash of a ventilation grate colliding with the alien floor.

The platform the two Spartans stood on began to fall. It fell even lower than the pedestal, and seemed to keep going. The platform began to gain speed, getting faster and faster as the creatures were quickly erased from Yonalli's vision by the floor which seemed to rise around him. Yonalli looked up to see the monsters peeking over the edge, one actually tipping over and falling down the elevator shaft. It landed with a meaty slam on the surface of the massive elevator between Hagan and Yonalli. Hagan put a burst of 7.62mm rounds into its chest to keep it from rising again.

The elevator seemed to fall endlessly through the shaft, all light dispersing from the vicinity. Soon the top entrance became a distant spec above the two Spartans. Just as Yonalli feared they would be doomed to an eternal drop, the shaft opened. What they saw shook the two Spartans to the core. The room yearned an empty ambient sigh, infecting the ears of the Spartans as they stared agape at the seemingly endless chasm. The room stretched so far that it had its own horizon, the room dropping for several miles below the catwalk where the elevator stopped. The scale of the room took Yonalli's attention away from the fact that the elevator had basically hovered unsuspended for a short time before reaching the catwalk. Yonalli looked around for some kind of support but thankfully saw that the catwalk had bars holding it to the ceiling of the room. Their were no side guards on the catwalk, and the path was slim, so the Spartans would have to be careful not to fall.

"Okay. So. A lot to take in right now…" Yonalli mumbled.

"Keep your head on straight. We need to find a way back to the surface. Going back up the elevator would take us straight back to those monsters, and they will eventually find a way down here. For now, we search." Hagan ordered, his tone clean an nonchalant, as if the alien environment failed to phase him at all. Yonalli knew inside the noncom was curious as well, but Hagan had been raised as their leader, so he had to keep himself together when everyone else was falling apart.

Yonalli stepped forward first. The catwalk shuddered as the Spartan's weight greeted the lonely catwalk for the first time in its existence. The Spartans weighed a ton each, making Yonalli un-sure that their weight could even be held by the dusty shuddering catwalk. Either he keeps moving and the catwalk breaks, or he goes back up to die fighting endless hordes of unidentified monsters. Yonalli walked slowly at first, shifting his MA3 against his chest and inhaling sharply as the catwalk shouted at him in defiance of his mass. Yonalli cracked his neck and marched along the path, feeling the catwalk move slightly as Hagan stepped on behind him. Yonalli hadn't been paying much attention to the path in front of him, as his eyes were stuck to the supports holding the catwalk up.

"Console ahead. Same appearance as the one that started the elevator. Could be a way out." Hagan whispered, causing Yonalli to jump very slightly. The catwalk wined in response, and Yonalli cringed.

The noncoms approached the console and Yonalli simply did as he had done before. His instincts simply guided his hand, and he pressed a large yellow trapezoidal shaped button with mysterious engravings in the light that made the figure. The button lowered, and the whole console folded in on itself before vanishing. The blue aura blinked out of existence, quickly replaced by a larger blue screen that hovered suspended in the air in front of them. An odd metal figure rose from under the catwalk. It hovered quietly in front of the two Spartans, a blue light in its center which was caressed by two limbs that outstretched the Spartans. The organism was completely mechanical, a large body taking up most of its form, but was blanketed in fins, seemingly for aerodynamics. Hagan lifted up his MA3 as the blue light from the organism seemed to scan the noncoms, running up and down their silhouettes.

"Hagan, wait! Don't shoot…" Yonalli whispered.

"Why? Another one of your _instincts_?" Hagan emphasized the word, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"They seem to be getting us somewhere, so I'd trust them." Yonalli answered, his eyes remaining on the alien craft. That's when the odd figure spoke. In English.

"_Directorate 133 identifies organisms; Forerunner Identification; Reclaimers; Human._" The figure speaks a monotone hum. The voice was non-organic and fake. But how did it know English?

"_Accessing ship log database; Cargo craft removed; HR 6426Cc storage recorded; 42 craft stored; All flood samples secured on HIP 72105; Recorded on 97430 BCE._"

"Flood samples? What does it mean, flood?" Hagan asks Yonalli, glancing back at the alien machine.

"I don't-" Yonalli begins to speak but is cut off by the monotone voice once more.

"_Data storage contains records; File __**Halo Array**__; Subfolder __**Containment**__; Recording as follows; On the chance of outbreak on flood storage facilities, all instances of un-affected samples must be gathered and or destroyed. Standard lockdown and quarantine procedures of flood parasite material must ensue. All personnel to have come in direct contact with airborne spores or infection forms without proper battle skin must be quarantined until further notice, or terminated under extreme emergency; End record." _The tin voice ceased as what the machine had said hung in the atmosphere.

Only a moment after did the machine once again break the silence. The light on the face of the floating identity that had scanned the noncoms blasted to life again, projecting a pane of blue light in front of the spartans. On the pane, orange paths streaked across, several points of the path marked with alien symbols that sizzled and faded before returning in phoenician letters. At the top the pane read 'Recorded Cargo Trip of Flood Samples'. Two points marked HR 6426Cc and HIP 72105.

"The things you see serving the mean green UNSC." Hagan mumbled.

Yonalli was about to speak when he heard plasma fire echoing down the elevator shaft. The Covenant had made it inside.

"They made it past Julian and Tuskan. We need to hurry. If we don't get outta here soon, we'll be swarmed." Yonalli rushed as he turned to Hagan.

"The Covenant know we're here, and they know how many of us there are. It's safe to assume any cover we had has been lost. I'll radio _Ode to Joy._" Hagan nodded to Yonalli. "Use your instincts and find us a way out of here."

A sudden static erupted from Yonalli's COMs. It came onto the group channel, and Yonalli confirmed this when Hagan looked to him. They both listened closely. A group broadcast only meant an emergency.

"This is Kane Josemari. Facility tag 032902. I'm coming in on the COMs of Spartan K590. K590 was engaged by covenant forces while I was unconscious and has been gravely wounded. Any allies in the immediate vicinity are asked for assistance. I don't know how long this Spartan has left." An unfamiliar voice came through, calm, but with a slight sense of urgency. Hagan looked at Yonalli, and Yonalli nodded.

"Understood Josemari. We were just about to head your way. Keep COMs silent from now on and don't send any other information regarding your location. We'll be there soon." Hagan responded in a monotone voice, while still conveying sureness and hope.

"How did he get into Julian's COM systems?" Yonalli asked Hagan, truly dumbfounded at the technical skill required to do such a thing.

"I don't have a clue. But what he did could have just saved Julian, and I respect that more than anything. We need to hurry."

The two Spartans sprinted towards the elevator as Yonalli pressed the return panel, causing the elevator to shift and rise. When he looked up, Yonalli could see several flashes of blue cross the gap above the elevator shaft. One of the flood creatures soared over the gap towards the direction of the fired plasma rounds.

"I guess our friends have met." Yonalli quipped, listening intensely on the battle that raged above him.

"It's gonna be a mess of combat up there. Just make sure to pick your targets carefully. When your mag is empty you'll have both sides trying to kill you as well as each other at the same time, so make your rounds count." Hagan shouted over the sound of plasma fire, screeching, footsteps, plasma explosions, and alien language. The two noncoms had a good guess about what was waiting for them at the top of the shaft, but neither of them knew how to prepare for the hell they were about to endure.


	5. Chapter 4

-4-

0206 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 4, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UPPERУРАН ORBIT, EPSILON BOÖTIS SYSTEM (_UNSC Ode To Joy)_

"Contact closing in on our position. ETA 30 seconds t'ill target enters our firing range." A crewman announces from his console.

"Prime MAC cannon. Get ready for a fight. Someone get an update on Odysseus's situation. We should be leaving right now." Hudson orders as he watches the Covenant ship hover menacingly in front of _Ode to Joy_.

The Covenant fleet had showed up an hour after Odysseus had went planetside. _Ode to Joy_ had tried to keep a low profile for as long as they could, but their discovery was inevitable. Gladius-class heavy corvettes were definitely not the best ships to be put up against a CCS-class Covenant battlecruiser, but Hudson was confident in his abilities. He knew the ins and outs of this ship better than anyone else. He also knew his limits.

"Sir! Covenant Battlecruiser's plasma armaments are registering an increase in temp. They'll be firing very soon!"

"Perfect. Lock MAC on the plasma ports and let it go. As soon as our shot connects they're going to return, so I want port thrusters online and burning." Hudson explains, eyeing out the enemy and planning his maneuver.

"Aye Aye, sir!"

Yonalli sprayed the jackal in the face and watched it drop. A plasma charge punched an infected elite in the shoulder. The creature didn't even flinch as it jettisoned through the air and broke the assaulting party's neck with a crack of its whip-like arm. Hagan fired his MA3 into an elite's energy shield, reloading when the energy dropped with a pop of its mechanism failing. Hagan was quick to rise his rifle again, ready to finish off the alien target, but was surprised when a humanoid mess of organic mass fell from above and smashed the Covenant elite with its legs. The Covenant didn't stand a chance, as they fell by the numbers. Hagan was sure the two of them wouldn't fair much better without the distraction that the Covenant made. If it wasn't for them, the two Spartans would easily be swarmed and taken down. Hagan didn't want to imagine one of those little creatures taking over his body. He was afraid the others wouldn't stand a chance when confronted with swarms of the flood that had access to MJOLNIR enhancements.

An elite ranger wasn't so accepting of its own fate, and attempted to replace itself with Yonalli. The elite grasped for the Spartan, and Hagan paused to finish it off. The alien collapsed onto the floor, but continued to breathe. Yonalli's feet were swept out from under him as the dying elite clenched his ankles. An infection flood bounced into the air, outstretching its tendrils as its arc carried it above Yonalli. Hagan put a finishing bundle of rounds into the alien's head as Yonalli fired bursts at the infection form. The bubble of organic mass fell onto Yonalli, and just as he thought the creature would end him, he felt a shock of sudden energy as his shield sprung up, the energy suspending the infection form in air as it coursed through the bubble's flesh. The infection form expanded and contracted before popping.

Hagan took Yonalli's hand and lifted him onto his feet. Yonalli stared at the puddle that once was the infection form for a second, before turning and running after Hagan. The two spartans pushed out burst after burst of 7.62, not stopping their stride for anything other than to jump over a corpse.

"The exit! Hurry!" Hagan shouted back at Yonalli. Yonalli turned forward and saw the excavation lights at the tunnel entrance. Yonalli dropped his eyebrows and locked onto the path ahead.

Hagan jumped 8 feet into the air, outstretching his hands and catching an edge almost halfway up the tunnel wall. Yonalli skidded to a stop at the bottom and turned his MA3 to his rear.

"Hurry up Hagan!" Yonalli shouted as he watched the approach of the flood, a sign that the covenant infiltration team had been decimated. Hagan could see several infected elites joined with the human forms.

Yonalli fired rounds into the mass. A human form dropped as Yonalli's bullets tore its flesh apart. An elite form jumped forward from the crowd, more impatient than the others. Yonalli pulled the trigger on his rifle. Two rounds made their mark before the creature snapped the MA3 in half with its whip-arm. The creature howled and tackled Yonalli. The Spartan gripped the alien's throat, holding its snapping mandibles back as he reached for his combat knife. The monster thrust its arm forward, knocking out Yonalli's arm. Its head flew down at the glass visor on Yonalli's helmet. If Yonalli had been a second later it could have busted through.

Yonalli held the infected elite suspended with his knife. It still thrashed at him, but now it couldn't reach him. He kicked the flood form away, letting his knife go with it. Yonalli hopped up, watching the crowd break into a sprint as he turned around. He jumped, outstretching his hand. Hagan caught it. The Spartans looked down at the mess of brown biomass, wriggling, tumbling, and screeching as they stacked on each other. Each time they tried, they failed, collapsing on top of each other and trying again. Hagan and Yonalli didn't want to stay to see how long it would take them to figure it out.

Kane looked up to see the two Spartans emerge from the shadows in a slight speed walk. Kane stood up, disconnecting the adapter from K590's helmet and slipping the radio into his pocket.

"I guess the first thing I should say is thank you for saving my life." Kane said to the two hulking cyborgs. "Your friend stopped an entire squad of Covenant while I was still unconscious. I woke up to this."

"I'm A223. This here is U091." Hagan responds, motioning to Yonalli. "K590 is the one who saved your life, and C329 was outside covering our rear. We're Fireteam Odysseus. Sent here by the UNSC aboard the _Ode to Joy _following the loss of radio transmission from this facility."

"Well it seems you've already been introduced to what cut the signals." Kane remarks, staring nervously at the tunnel entrance.

"We know its not Covenant. ONI won't be pleased to hear that." Yonalli mutters as he rolls the M41 off of his back and opens a case of spare rockets.

Hagan squats beside Julian and presses his hand on his chest. "He's alive. But I don't know for how long. The Covenant did a number on him." Kane breaks the short silence, standing over Hagan's back.

"I feel like he did a lot more damage in the end." Hagan mutters, staring around at the corpses of a banshee and several Covenant militants. He was completely taken aback at the destruction caused by a lone Spartan III. He never thought they were capable of as much. "We need to move. I don't know how long it'll be t'ill those creatures find a way up here again, and I sure as hell am not waiting for more Covenant ground troops to bust in here. Yonalli, contact Tuskan and let him know we are leaving as soon as possible. _Ode to Joy _is sending a Pelican down for emergency evac less than a quarter of a klick to the east."

"Understood." Yonalli says, his voice silencing just as the word finishes as he switches to a private COM with Tuskan.

"Josemari, you're gonna want to bundle up tight. It's a long walk." Hagan says, picking up Julian and carefully putting him over his shoulder.

"Heavy casualties in the starboard storage facility! Two of our six M870 cannons are offline!" A crewman reads on screen reports to Hudson. "The second CCS Battlecruiser is officially offline and drifting."

"What's Odysseus's situation?" Hudson asks, putting together a maneuver in his head.

"They are beginning their trek to the Pelican as we speak. K590 is confirmed gravely wounded, and a civilian from the facility has been recovered."

"Understood." Hudson sighs. "Give me a position report on those battle cruisers."

"We've got one left in the immediate vicinity, and a second coming up from the surface of the planet. While monitoring Covenant chatter we have confirmation that another fleet is currently on its way to assist. This fleet consists of seven CCS-class Battlecruisers and one CAS-class Assault Carrier. They'll be here in under a half hour." Hudson winced at this. _Ode to Joy_ wouldn't stand a chance against a CAS.

"Put all power in the main engine and get us a port side shot on that CCS. Prime the M58 Archer pods and get ready to open fire when I give the go."

"Aye sir."

_Ode to Joy_ lurchers forward as the rear thrusters spring to life. The Archer missiles begin to heat up as the Corvette pulls alongside the Covenant Capital Ship. Plasma lances lick the Corvette's bulkhead, melting the titanium and turning the ship's hull a bright orange. Liquid Titanium bubbles float away in empty space as _Ode to Joy_'s M58s line up their shots. Two hatches on the top of the Gladius Corvette open up as the Archer missiles soar up high above the two ships before turning back down and burning their main fuel tanks, increasing to the speed of a fighter jet. The missiles plunge into the top of the Covenant Battlecruiser. Two of the missiles explode harmlessly on the ship's energy shield, the second one, however, causes the shield to falter and dissipate.

The metal hull of the battlecruiser moans as oxygen is sucked out through several punctures caused by the remaining eight Archer missiles. The CCS fires a plasma torpedo in desperation. The torpedo misses its mark and soars harmlessly over the corvette. The battlecruiser begins to tilt as the oxygen is whisked away into the vacuum of space. Hudson watches as methane crates float through the agape hull. The entire crew watches in silence for a moment before breaking into celebration.

"Final Battlecruiser down! The planetside Battlecruiser is bugging out until reinforcements arrive!" A crewman shouts the report over the cheering and laughing. Everyone pauses for a second at the report before again breaking into an even louder celebration. Hudson watches the hugging and talking on the bridge with a smirk. He decides to let them have their moment for a little bit longer before quieting them down.

"Ship bay to Bridge." A voice comes on the overhead COMs.

"Send it lieutenant." Hudson replies.

"Odysseus is on board. We are ready for departure."

"Understood. Tell them to meet me in the port side barracks for their report.

"Yes sir. K590 and the civilian are being taken to medical. The others will see you there."


	6. Chapter 5

-5-

0330 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 4, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) SLIPSPACE (_UNSC Ode To Joy)_

Hagan watched Hudson enter the room and shut the door behind him. All the marines in this bunk had been moved so the talk with Hudson could be in private. Hagan had told him that what happened on the surface was not the work of neither Covenant nor Insurrectionists. This seemed to interest Hudson, and as soon as _Ode to Joy_ had entered slipspace, he came directly down. He had a troubled look on his face as he sat down. The room they were using wasn't exactly professional, but Hudson couldn't wait t'ill they got back to a human colony to find out what happened.

"Alright. I am not gonna pretend this is some professional situation. I'll leave that to the ONI officials who's pay grades are much higher than mine. I just want to know what happened down there." Hudson admits with a sigh. Hagan, Yonalli, and Tuskan all look at eachother.

"I was outside when the whole ordeal happened. I don't know much really." Tuskan said, leaning back on the bunk. "Hell, I was waiting for this so I could learn about it as well."

Hudson turned to Hagan and Yonalli. "So. What did you find?"

Hagan leaned in. He was ready to re-explain the event as many times as it took them to understand. He knew they wouldn't get it on their first time. "We've discovered some sort of… ancient alien parasite. Whatever it is, it was contained thousands of years ago by an alien race that we've yet to encounter for whatever reason. Уран has an enormous cavern underneath the first few kilometers of surface. Yonalli and I speculate that the planet may even be hollow."

"Hollow?" Tuskan asks, turning to Hagan with disbelief. "How could it be hollow?"

"Well… I think that this planet may be artificial. Yonalli and I encountered a sort of… AI whilst down there. It scanned us before spewing out a bunch of information on the containment event and all other data…"

"It spoke to you? In english?" Tuskan asked again.

"Yes. We are unsure of how, though. This parasite, they called it the flood, can infect any life it encounters, from what we've seen." Hagan explains, quieter.

"I saw humans and elites both go down and come back up alike." Yonalli shudders.

"Then there's the biggest part. These ancient aliens, as technologically advanced as they were, brought all of these infection forms from another planet and stored them on Уран. Then they left the entire ledger of the ships travel records, departure origins, and final destinations on this AI. Yonalli nabbed a copy of the map file that the AI displayed before us. We think the only reason that the Covenant was here was because they somehow knew about all of this before us, and were looking for these ships as well…" Hagan finishes.

Hudson sits in silence, not having said anything during the explanation. He rests his chin on his fists and stares at the floor. Hagan watches, waiting for a reaction. Hudson was processing what to do with this knowledge. As Hagan began to speak again, Hudson cut in.

"We can't let the Covenant get to those ships. If your assumption is right, and this race is as powerful as what you've seen, the Covenant would wipe us out with their technology."

"Agreed." Yonalli says, nodding.

"We're changing course. Send the map to my crewmen on the bridge. We'll be postponing your debriefing with ONI. We have to stop the Covenant as soon as possible." Hudson states with finality, standing up and turning to the door. He stops in the doorway and looks at Odysseus. "You've done an exceptional job today, men. What we do here could spell the very victory for humanity. Keep it up."

Hagan and Yonalli look to each other, and then to Tuskan. "Let's head down to the infirmary. I need to know how Julian is doing." Tuskan says as he stands up. Hagan and Yonalli nod.

HIGH CHARITY COUNCIL HALL

"They _destroyed_ your entire fleet, 'Huramee!"

Fauvas lowered his head in shame. A single human ship had decimated his entire fleet, with him being an exception. Had he not fled, his crew would surely had perished. 'Huramee had decided instead to regroup with the reinforcements that were coming in. By the time they had arrived, however, the alien ship was gone. 'Huramee had already lost several holy warriors to the parasite. How the humans avoided such a fate still phased him.

"My holy one… The parasite… Had it not interfered we would surely have stopped the humans before they had a chance to discover anything."

"But you did not! The humans passed your team unscathed and desecrated an artifact of the gods!"

"We know where they are going! After the humans fled I sent in a strike team to clear out the infected and quarantine the area. Whilst inside the warriors discovered an oracle… we engaged with the holy oracle and it answered our questions as fast as they came… We were blessed to experience it ourselves. The oracle told us about an innumerable amount of ships that our gods had used before passing to godhood, and as a gift, the oracle granted us access to these warships to lead our holy cause!" 'Huramee spoke with passion, rising to his hooves and putting his fist on his chest. The holy prophet sat in silence. 'Huramee lifted his head to see the holy one thinking… To make a noble prophet think was a feat that 'Huramee would take with pride. As 'Huramee thought to himself, the prophet spoke again.

"Take your ship, join with the Fleet of _Holy Intervention, _and find the humans. Stop them and retrieve these ships for our cause. We've already dedicated a formidable number of ships to the Holy Ring to stop the lone human ship, and we will need these gifts from our gods if we wish to sustain a powerful navy."

"Yes noble one. Your will be done." Fauvas spoke with modesty, but inside he was ecstatic. 'Huramee bowed and turned to leave. But before he took more than two steps, the noble one stopped him once more.

"Fail me again shipmaster, and your heresy will be punished as such." The Holy Prophet threatened with clear intent. It frightened 'Huramee, and he left the hall.

1207 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 4, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) SLIPSPACE (_UNSC Ode To Joy)_

"How are we." Yonalli asked Hagan as they strided down a corridor.

"Julian isn't gonna be ready for about a week at the very least. Hudson says we'll be dropping out of slipspace in another day or two. We shouldn't expect to have him with us on this next one." Hagan responds.

Hagan turned a hard left that put the two spartans at a door. Hagan tapped a few keys on the panel, and the door slid to the left. Hagan marched right through. After a few steps he turned to see Yonalli still standing at the entrance.

"You good?"

Yonalli paused for a moment before looking at Hagan. "You know this is gonna be rough. It isn't just the Covenant anymore. We may be the only humans who know about that fact right now. How do you think everyone else will take it? The civilians, the marines… It's gonna kill morale. I don't know if we can take another hit like that."

"And that's exactly why they won't know." Hagan responded coldly.

Yonalli lowered an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"Look, Yonalli." Hagan said, loosening up and walking a little closer. "Reach. When we lost Reach, what was the first thing ONI did? They covered it up. Almost no one knows about Reach's fall. Do you think they'd just let all this information out? Face it Yonalli. It's another secret we have to keep."

"ONI seems to be giving us a lot of those."

"They are, and they will keep doing so. That's their job. If they think it'll better humanity, then they go through with it. It's probably for the best. We couldn't take another morale hit like that." Yonalli was surprised that Hagan had brought up Reach so soon. He thought it would take longer. It was a big thing for all of them. Even he winced at the mention of the planet. "Now, if you're finished, we've got to talk to Hudson. I have an idea."

"You always do." Yonalli responded. Hagan nodded and they began to walk again.

Hagan walked onto the observation deck and approached Hudson. Yonalli glanced about the glass room. A catwalk split the middle of the massive space, hovering over the glass surface below that looked down outside of the cruiser's hull. Slipspace was an endless sea of pink light, zipping back and forth as _Ode to Joy _sped through it. Small particles of purple light soared past the observation deck and disappeared into the pink clouds below. Hudson stood in the center, a silhouette backdropped by the glowing colors. Yonalli had seen the sight many times, and it never really got old. It seemed as though Hudson thought the same, as Yonalli saw him come down here many times when he needed to think. Maybe Yonalli needed to start doing the same.

"Hudson." Hagan spoke quietly, trying not to startle the CO. Hudson turned his head slightly to look back at the Spartans.

"You two are finally up. Guess it really was hectic down there, huh."

"Nothing we couldn't handle."

"Of course." Hudson smiled before glancing back out at the view.

"Sir, we need a platoon of marines to join us down on the surface in Julian's place."

Yonalli watched the two converse. Eventually their voices seems to fade from his mind as he stared deeply into the slipspace light. He didn't know why, but he seemed to gain a sudden fondness of the event. He could see himself coming down here more often.


	7. Chapter 6

-6-

0214 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 7, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY, HR 6426C System (_UNSC Ode To Joy)_

Yonalli was on the observation deck when they dropped from slipspace. The trip had taken a little extra time, but only because _Ode to Joy _had taken a slight bit of fire above Уран. Yonalli sat alone watching the slow rotation of the planet below. The surface was covered in blue-green land masses, with deep blue waterways running through them. The two biggest land masses were split in two only by an enormous body of water similar in shape to a river, but also being the size of an entire ocean. The split measured at least a few hundred miles. It was quite gorgeous. The sight was quickly ruined when Yonalli spotted a small purple speck on the planet's far side. He quickly stood up and inched closer. Alarms all over _Ode to Joy _sprung to life. Yonalli backed quickly before turning and darting through the passage.

Hagan had arrived on the bridge with Tuskan only a moment ago before Yonalli showed up as well. Hudson was already shouting commands and priming weapons. He paused and turned to the Spartans.

"The Covenant are already on the surface and are sending their ships in for an attack. You three need to get on a pelican as fast as you can. We're gonna go right through them and get you as close to the Covenant LZ as we can. After that, it'll be up to you guys to get to the surface while we deal with the Covenant. We'll try to find a safe place to hide on the planet, from which we'll contact you." Hudson rushed whilst also managing a console in front of him. "Another pelican will follow you down with as many marines as I was able to spare. We good?"

"Aye sir. Good luck. And thank you." Hagan watched Hudson for a second before turning and breaking into a sprint, followed by the other two Spartans. Yonalli stopped in the doorway and nodded at Hudson. The ONI officer nodded back before turning and shouting out more orders. Yonalli stood and watched out the bridge viewports at the approaching Covenant ships before following Tuskan.

Hagan sealed his helmet and climbed aboard the Pelican. Tuskan punched his shoulder from the seat as he passed into the cockpit.

"Sergeant Major Rhodes."

"B670. Yonalli. These two are Tuskan and Hagan."

"We know who you are. The ship isn't that big." The Sergeant Major laughed and shook Yonalli's hand. Her hand was dwarfed by Yonalli's own, but her grip was ever firm. The marine jogged back to her pelican and climbed inside. The marines had an M12 FAV Warthog strapped to the underside of the dropship's tail. They didn't know what kind of terrain they'd be put up against down there, and any mode of transportation would be fortunate. Unfortunately, one was all Hudson could spare.

"Come on Yonalli, we're moving now." Tuskan shouted. The Spartan grabbed an MA37 from the armory and hopped aboard.

"All aboard!" Tuskan shouted into the cockpit. The Pelican's engines roared to life. The landing gears lifted as the enormous aircraft began to rise. Yonalli watched as the hatch on the other Pelican folded shut before the ship darted through the vacuum seal.

Yonalli grabbed a handle as the Pelican kicked forward and flung into space. Silence filled the atmosphere as Yonalli watched plasma torpedoes lick _Ode to Joy_'s bulkheads. Seraph fighters sped past the Pelican, not even noticing it, and bombed the frigate. Yonalli watched _Ode to Joy_ return fire, constantly taking it.

"Seraph fighters are engaging us!" Hagan shouted through COMs.

Shortly after he said so, plasma detonations behind the Pelican threw Yonalli off the ramp and back into the Pelican's cargo hold. Tuskan climbed to the back on the aircraft and punched the emergency ramp seal. Yonalli climbed into the cockpit. The planet seemed to spin around the front viewport as it was the only point of reference for the Pelican's movement. Seraph fighters darted back and forth across the view. The pelican rattled harshly, throwing Yonalli and Tuskan about the cargo hold.

"We've been hit! Starboard engines are gone. Get ready Spartans, we're going in a little rough.

Yonalli magnetized his boots and grabbed a handle in the cockpit doorway. He watched over Hagan's shoulder as the planet grew bigger and bigger before the entire viewport was blue.

"Fingers crossed!" Yonalli shouted before crouching and bracing himself.

The atmosphere smacked the pelican like a brick wall, throwing off its nose and sending it into an uncontrollable backspin.

"We came in too fast! Trying to hold her…" Hagan grumbled, pushing against the G's.

To Yonalli's disbelief, Hagan pulled the pelican through and put the nose down. Yonalli was gritting his teeth the whole way down. The surface came into view as the pelican broke through the clouds, and it was coming up really fast. Hagan pulled the nose up and put the Pelican into a glide, but it was still too fast. The bottom of the pelican skidded on the grass and bounced into the air, tipping forward slightly before slamming into the surface and uprooting a path as it went. The pelican shook violently, screeching and thudding while bouncing left and right over and over again. Hagan's helmet hit the side of the cockpit and cracked the glass. Dirt and rocks bounced over the nose and shattered the viewport. Yonalli's feet were finally thrown out from under him. The Spartan fell face first into the floor. The Pelican finally began to slow, before leaning forward, stopping, and falling back onto its belly. All was quiet.

Yonalli lifted his head and glanced around. He spotted Tuskan lying on the ground un-moving. Panic washed over him, but it was quickly extinguished with relief when Tuskan grunted and rose. He turned to Hagan who was already standing. He took a hard hit during the crash, and Yonalli was worried. Tuskan walked over and outstretched his hand, which Yonalli grabbed. Yonalli was hit with a slight passing dizziness when he stood up, but felt fine afterwards. He turned to Hagan again. The left side of his helmet was scuffed and had a small dent in it.

"Hagan." Yonalli began to speak.

"Lets move out. The other pelican is pinging just over that hill." Hagan spoke abruptly, pointing outside of the now open cargo hold to a small hill only a few feet away.

"Odysseus! This is Fireteam Ulmar! Covenant dropships are closing in on our LZ! Requesting assistance as soon as you can manage!" A voice came on over the COMs. It was the Sergeant Major. Plasma fire could be heard over her voice.

"Odysseus! Double time it!" Hagan ordered.

The spartans grabbed their weapons and hopped from the pelican, which almost laid on its side. Yonalli's helmet automatically enabled the shade optics when they were outside. The planet orbited three stars, a close proximity red dwarf, and two very distant K-type main sequence stars. The atmosphere of the planet was taking in and holding a lot of light, and the planetary natives were probably very used to it. Yonalli sprinted after Odysseus, though his mind was on the landscape. Other than the smoking ruin of the pelican, and the trail of dirt that the crash had created, the landscape was a perfect endless green of rolling hills as far as the eye could see. Clouds moved slowly over head, casting great shadows in the distance. The sunlight broke through the clouds far off, creating rays that pocketed the horizon. Yonalli's helmet informed him that the planet temperature was eighteen degrees celsius, and that there was a light breeze. The atmosphere was relatively safe, with the only real danger being a slight abundance of oxygen, but not enough to do any real harm. Yonalli wanted to take off his helmet and enjoy it, but he knew now wasn't the time.

At the top of the hill, Odysseus watched two DX Spirit Dropships descend on the pelican. It had landed with no real damage, and the M12 FAV Warthog that the marines had brought along was still strapped in. The marines were now taking defensive position around the landing site. The heavy plasma cannons on the bottom of the dropship were lacing the pelican with plasma burns. The marines were making use of what little cover they had, due to the fact that this planet seemed to have almost no large natural formations. The Pelican was quickly melting to the cannon's unforgiving onslaught, and it wouldn't be long before the marines would be forced out into the open.

"Yonalli. Do what you do." Hagan patted Yonalli on the shoulder. Yonalli smiled and grabbed the M41 SPNKR Rocket Launcher from his back. He pointed the two large rotating barrels at the first Covenant ship and pressed the trigger.

The rocket split the air around itself, cracking and whistling as it set its sights on the dropship, vortexing and burning bright. The ear splitting explosion and bright flare of light signalled the dropship's doom. The craft sputtered and hobbled before dropping and crashing on the ground. Covenant spewed from the passenger holds like ants fleeing from a burning anthill. The elites were relatively safe due to their energy shielding, but the same could not be said for the grunts and jackals who screamed and died just a few feet from the burning ship. Yonalli twisted the launcher and pointed the barrel at the other dropship. Tuskan and Hagan broke into a sprint, sliding down the hill and spraying their MA37s as they rushed the surviving elites. Yonalli fired the last rocket and smirked again as it devastated anything in its path, whether it be air or soon the dropship.

Instead of an explosion, however, Yonalli heard another ear splitting sound. He looked closer and watched the rocket soar harmlessly into the distance. The dropship had burned its left engine, tilting itself out of the way. Yonalli cursed to himself as Covenant troops unloaded from the sides of the ship and landed in the grass with their weapons drawn. Yonalli dropped the M41 and snatched the MA37 from his back.

Hagan fired a burst into a stunned elite, who's shield had just dropped. The elite growled and died. Another one quickly took his place, firing plasma bolts at Hagan. Behind him, a marine took a blow from the bottom of an elite's plasma rifle, a gun that was as big as the marine's chest, but the alien could hold with one hand. The marine dropped, his chest rising and his fingers clenching before he fell flat and stopped moving. The Covenant were behind them now, meaning that Yonalli hadn't been able to take out the second dropship.

"Sergeant Major! Focus your marines on the crashed dropship. We'll handle the flanking Covenant." Hagan rushed, twisting around and opening fire on a group of jackals that were closing in on a marine.

"I hear ya, swabbie. Marines! Move to the rear of the pelican and take cover behind the landing gears!"

"Sir! We've got another Covie dropship moving in westwards!" Another marine called out.

"Deal with the gators first! The Spartans have us covered." Rhodes ordered as her troops crouched behind the long stemmed landing gears. "Get ready for a big one!"

"I'll handle the third dropship. Focus on your targets." Yonalli spoke over COMs.

Hagan sprayed a grunt before turning his barrel to another. It pulled out two plasma

grenades and primed them, before attempting to rush him. He pitied the creature a bit before popping a few 7.62s into its head. The alien dropped the grenades, which detonated, resulting in the death of a jackal and two other grunts. Tuskan fired his M122 LMG into a crowd of jackal shields. They held up for a short time, but Tuskan's gun had more rounds. Once one shield went down, they all began to go down. Jackals tried to run but collapsed atop each other under the reign of firepower. Two plasma bolts punched Tuskan's energy shielding to his left. He paused the fire and turned, being hit with three more rounds in the time. His shield was low, but now his gun was facing the elite. Tuskan pulled the trigger, and the elite dropped just shy of cover.

Hagan fired on an elite as it charged him, brandishing an energy sword. The elite's shield went down just as it closed the distance, and Hagan was forced to roll from his position as the elite's blade vaporized the air where he was once. Hagan dropped his rifle and pulled out his knife. The elite switched off its energy harness. Hagan had seen this before. Elites often switched off their energy shielding before a duel to show that they are capable of defeating an enemy even if the odds aren't in their favor. To defeat an enemy in such a manner was a great honor to the sangheili. Unfortunately, humans don't play as fair.

As the elite roared and charged Hagan, a crack from Tuskan's shotgun blew out the alien's side and put it on the ground where it gargled its own violet gore. Tuskan walked toward the sangheili as it attempted to speak, and blew its head into pieces.

"Another split chin down." Tuskan said before pumping the M90 and ejecting the empty shell inside.

"Looks like that's the last one." Hagan said

"All echo tango in the AO have been eliminated." Rhodes spoke through COMs. "Thanks for the help, Spartans. We spotted a structure on our way down. It's a short walk from here. Or atleast, it would be if we didn't have this." Rhodes turned her head to the Warthog and smirked.

"So how do we all fit in it?" Yonalli joked.

"You Spartans will ride to the structure in the FAV. We'll get ourselves back in order and meet you there with the pelican." Rhodes explained.

"We'll see you there." Hagan responded as the Sergeant Major turned away.

"Marines! Casualty report!" Rhodes shouted as the Spartans jogged towards the Warthog.

"Crokes is gone, sir. He's the only one." A marine reported back.

"He'd be happy knowing no one else went with him. Load him into the pelican. We'll return him to _Ode To Joy_ first chance we get. For now, pack up! We're leaving."

Yonalli glanced at Hagan. The Spartan pressed the ignition panel and the M12 hummed to life. Its battery pack was fully charged and ready to go. Rhodes updated their HUDs with the relative location of the structure. She assured them that they'd see it when they got close enough. Tuskan was the first to nab the mounted machine gun turret on the back of the FAV, so Yonalli rode shotgun. Yonalli thought about what Hagan had said on _Ode To Joy_. He wondered how much of this war people really knew. How many battles did they actually know about? Do people really understand how grave the alien threat is? The thought made him feel wrong. He knew it was for the best. But he couldn't help but feel like it was all for nothing. Maybe it was selfish. It was selfish. But it was what was on Yonalli's mind. He wondered how much thinking Hagan did. How much of this did he really agree with? Did he even agree with it at all? Or does he just accept it because he can't change it?

"You okay Yonalli?" Tuskan asked over the light humming of the electric motor.

"Yeah. I'm peachy. We're doing a lot." Yonalli responded.  
"Don't worry about it Yonalli-" Tuskan paused to brace when the Warthog hopped over a hill and shuddered. "We'll all make it in the end. I think it's good for us. It makes me a little more positive when I think that when I'm tired, it just proves that I'm really doing something." Tuskan glanced down at Yonalli, who had turned around to face him. "Ya know?"

"Makes sense. If we weren't down here, imagine who would be."

"No one. That's why what we're doing is so important, cause only we can do it. It's our job after all." Tuskan said surely, grunting at another small bump halfway after he finished talking.

"Exactly. That's also why you're on the turret," Yonalli patted the M24 SPNKR next to him like a dog. "And I'm down here." Tuskan cackled slightly.

They drove for nearly half an hour. Yonalli wasn't expecting to see much, but the terrain changed so often it caught Yonalli's eye very minute. There was little in the terms of wildlife, but just in the thirty minute drive, they had seen distant forests with trees larger than any Yonalli had seen before, mountain ranges who's snow-capped peaks gracefully skimmed the bottom of clouds. Rain poured in a distant marshland, and the M12 had rolled around a number of caverns and ravines. When the structure had come into view, it was like nothing Yonalli had seen before. The enormous monument looked similar to a rectangular bent finger pointing skyward. A cyan beam of pure energy pulsated and shot from the center of the build, darting into the sky and through the clouds, a tail following closely behind. The structure was grey and ancient. It almost looked as if it was made purely of dust, with mysterious engravings blanketing the entire outer wall. Smaller grey pillars orbited the alien skyscraper, hovering unsupported by some ancient alien tech. It all seemed to lean over all of them, even at the approximate distance of two kilometers away.

"Rhodes to Odysseus. We're going to fly in, but we'll stay in the air until you give the all clear." The marine spoke through COMs as the pelican soared over head, whistling as it shrunk in the distance as fast as it had appeared above them, its jet engines displacing grass and flowers.

"Understood. If there are any ETs my gun should take care of 'em." Tuskan responded as Hagan hit the gas, the Warthog whining and whistling to life and accelerating, kicking up dirt behind it. The M12 quickly kicked at its top speed of 125 km/h.

"There's no way we found this first, especially with how close our LZ was to it with the Covies on our ass." Tuskan grunted as he grabbed the charging handle on the giant M41 LAAG and released it, the gun snapping a round into the top of the tri-barrel. "Let's just hope we've got enough ammo." Tuskan flicked the frame-mounted shields and spun the turret 360 degrees by leaning his weight in the foot sockets to test the gyroscope.

"We shouldn't have a problem." Hagan spoke, an audible smirk on his face. He was ready to get back into the action.

Every fight made him feel alive. Every shot he fired and every shot he took satisfied him to the core. The rush of adrenaline and the drop of sweat that broke after the dust cleared. He couldn't imagine a life without it all. Sometimes he thought back to the fact that he was forced into the war. Every Spartan was. Kidnapped at the age of six and forced into hard military training under the secrecy of ONI. Many died, washed out. Those who didn't went through the terrible augmentations that were supposed to make them super-human. To some, it worked. To others, they died on that table. Odysseus was just a few of the lucky ones. Three of the forty-four that came out alive. Most Spartans, even Hagan at times, thought on that and despised ONI for it. More often than not, however, Hagan felt like he was fortunate to have been selected. He didn't like to bring it up, as it felt wrong, but it was the truth. He didn't know what life was without constant distress and quick thinking. He couldn't imagine a life without war. A part of him wished he could keep fighting, but one day he knew it would be done, and that it was his job to end what he enjoyed doing so much.

"Odysseus! We've confirmed contacts on the ground! They have anti-air and are firing on the pelican. We have to pull out until you can get rid of those guns. If you do that, I can assure you'll have back up." Rhodes broke the calming silence. Yonalli watched beams of green plasma lance the air and break the clouds high above. The pelican strafed left and right before turning and burning its main engines into the distance.

"Tuskan, train that gun." Hagan ordered calmly.

"Already on it."

There was a silence for just a moment before the LAAG roared to life, streaking the air and kicking up dirt on the Covenant line. Amidst the brown smokescreen, bits of sky blue liquid intertwined with the mud and rained back down to the ground. Hagan used the surprise assault to floor the Warthog and roll up right behind a rock before yanking the wheel to the left, causing the M12 to drift and snap its tail just behind the rock. Yonalli jumped from the passenger seat and onto the rock, with Hagan clambering onto the top of the Warthog's frame. The rock gave Tuskan enough cover to continue his M41's onslaught. Tuskan yanked his inertia left and right, pausing his fire only to choose a new target. Yonalli grabbed the SPNKR from the Warthog and aimed it towards the Covenant encampment. He squeezed the trigger and watched the rocket spiral in between two Covenant barriers before detonating. The barriers flew forward, along with the dismembered corpses of a few jackals and an elite. The aliens finally returned fire, plasma bolts displacing chunks of rock from the boulder. It was exactly what Yonalli was hoping for. While the Covenant fired on him, Hagan was already sprinting around the side and flanking the unsuspecting enemy.

Yonalli lowered his rocket as a break in Tuskan's fire allowed him to just pick out the sound of Hagan's MA37. Yonalli smirked behind his visor and laid the rocket launcher back into the FAV. He grabbed his assault rifle and jumped off of the other end of the rock. He spotted an elite attempt to smack Hagan with the butt of its plasma rifle, but stumble as Hagan ducked under the attack and elbowed the alien's back before putting a burst of 7.62 into its head. Another elite cowered behind part of the structure, but couldn't find better cover as the M41 painted the wall with its violet blood. Yonalli sprayed his MA37 at a group of jackals. Two went down, but the third took every round into its shield before firing back a charged plasma pistol bolt. Yonalli rolled to the side, but the bolt made a wide turn and smacked him in the back. Yonalli fell to his knees as warnings flashed all over his HUD telling him that his shield was offline, and he was vulnerable to attacks. He rose quickly as two more regular plasma pistol bolts darted towards him. One missed, the other burning into his Titanium A armour. Yonalli flinched but kept his stride. The jackal hissed, its eyes wide as its pistol overheated and began to vent. Yonalli fired again, but the alien threw up its shield. Yonalli jumped over the energy disc and landed behind the alien. He kicked it in the back, causing it to stumble forward and drop its shield. As it tried to turn, a hail of bullets from the M41 put it to the ground.

The anti-air had been put down and the pelican lowered itself onto the ground. Marines spilled from the back and began collecting the bodies, pulling them into piles and stowing their guns in the pelican.

"Thanks for cleaning up the porch. Any inside?" Rhodes asked, brushing a marine off to help the rest after finishing their conversation.

"A couple jackals fled into the structure. We think there may be backup inside, and maybe some more coming down." Yonalli informed the marine as he slapped a fresh mag into his rifle.

"Alright, so we wash out the interior and get it ready for an attack. This place will do just fine." Rhodes said as she glanced at the structure. "Marines! Get ready for one last fight."

"Aw, really sir? Only one more?" A marine smirked as he helped another marine carry away a disfigured grunt.

"Stow it, marine." Rhodes shouted back with a slight grin on her face.

Tuskan took point once they got inside, as he had the shotgun. The corridors were tight, and the team had to walk in a single file line. Rhodes left a few marines outside to report in if the ETs showed up early. The Sergeant Major didn't like having all of her troops in one line, or set up like dominoes, as she put it. Hagan decided that the marines should keep a distance from the Spartans so if anything did come up, the Spartans could lay down covering fire and give the marines time to set up behind the many indents on both sides of the narrow hall. Similar to the underground facility in Epsilon Boötis, ambient blue-steel light seemed to emanate from nowhere. There were many dark patches, however. Yonalli was sure the Covenant would use those patches to their advantage. About ten minutes into the slow walk, the hall split into two seperate paths.

"So what's the plan." A marine asked from the back when the line stopped moving.

"How about this, my marines and I will take the right path, you Spartans take the left." Rhodes suggested.

"Yonalli, you should go with them." Hagan said in response.

"No offense, but we don't need the swabbie, he'd take up too much space."

"With all due respect, Sergeant Major, but so would your corpses. I can promise on his behalf that he'll try to stay out of the way." Hagan said with finality.

"Fine. We'll take him. But will you two be okay?"

"We'll be fine. Just radio if you find anything and we'll be on our way."

Rhodes paused for a moment before starting off down the right hall with her marines. Yonalli gave Hagan a final look before nodding to him. Hagan nodded back and walked off with Tuskan, disappearing round the corner. Yonalli exhaled deeply before following the marines.

The hall was silent. Excluding the occasional whisper between the marines, all was silent. Their flashlights darted around from corner to corner, spreading out to leave no unchecked place. They all walked slowly, as even Yonalli felt tense. Something didn't feel right. He didn't understand how the jackals could have gotten through here so quick. As Yonalli got caught up in his thoughts, Rhodes slowed her pace and let the marines pass her until she was next to Yonalli.

"You thinking the same thing?" She asked after observing Yonalli's behaviour. "It's weird, isn't it."

"How far back do you think it goes?" Yonalli asked without turning to look at her.

"It's gotta end eventually. I'm just wondering why something would build an entrance that goes on like this for so long." Rhodes spoke quietly, as if trying to answer her own question in her head, but failing.

"I have no clue. Maybe this tunnel wasn't so small to them?"

"I don't know. I guess we haven't met any of them yet so we can't be too conclusive." Rhodes answered, sounding unsure.

"Or maybe it was some sort of defendable entrance. Maybe they built it for the same purpose the Covenant in here may be using it. Defense. Hell, it could be a maze for all we know." Yonalli spoke warrily.

"That sounds like the best possibility. I don't like it." Rhodes said quietly.

"Neither do I. Let's just hope they haven't figured it out yet either."

Suddenly COMs ignited with the sound of Tuskan's voice. "Ulmar! Contacts are engaging us in the tunnels! ET has set up a defensive position and has us pinned. There is another tunnel entrance behind them, we think that might be where you guys are headed! If you could hurry up that'd be appreciated."

"Can you engage them at all?" Yonalli quickly asked.

"Negative Yonalli, the space is too enclosed, and they've got plasma turrets!"

"Understood, we're heading your way now." Yonalli shut off COMs and looked to Rhodes. She nodded and turned to her marines.

"Alright marines! You heard 'em. Let's move!"


	8. Chapter 7

-7-

0523 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 7, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY, HR 6426C System (UNSC _Ode To Joy)_

Julian's eyes threw themselves open. The Spartan sat up at the feeling of another explosion.

"Whoa there! Hey, you're alright. Just lay back down." A marine in white armour and a red cross on his chest spoke to him in a calm voice.

"What's going on?" Julian spoke, still sitting up.

"It's alright. You're aboard the _Ode To Joy. _We're just getting roughed up a little, but Hudson has everything under control." The marine explained, fishing through a drawer.

"Shouldn't we be on Io?" Julian continued to ask.

"There've been a change of plans." The medic spoke once he pulled a file from the drawer. "The rest of Odysseus found something when you were all on Уран. They're planet side right now. We've been engaged by the Covenant, but Hudson has a plan. We're gonna go down after Odysseus has cleared an LZ and set up a base of operations. A few marines sent us some coordinates to some odd structure that should be easy to defend, but Fireteam Ulmar is clearing out Covie squatters right now, so that's where we're heading."

"I need to be ready when we get down there." Julian said, beginning to stand up.

"Whoa, hold on Spartan." The medic rushed to hold Julian. He was actually too weak to hold up against the medic's slight hold. "That's my point; you can't even get up with me holding you. Listen, I agree that you'd be great down there, and they could probably use your rifle in those open plains, but there is no way you're capable of fighting right now."

Julian lay back down and sighed. "How long will I be waiting."

We originally put you at about a week. It's been three days." The medic said solemnly. Julian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But I think I can get you out by tomorrow, if you really need to get down there." Julian opened his eyes and looked at the medic, who was smirking.

"You see, back during the Insurrectionist War, when we started deploying Spartan IIs on the field to combat them, the Innies used an injection that would increase their strength tenfold, which they attempted to use to combat the Spartans. Only problem was that it wasn't enough, and it killed the common man after only a few hours." Julian could see where he was going with this. He had almost used one such injection when he was an Innie rifleman. "But for a Spartan, the injection should be just like taking some acetaminophen for aches, if the acetaminophen could make a severely injured super-soldier battle-ready with one dose."

"How the hell did you get your hands on one of those?" Julian inquired softly.

"Don't worry about that. Just think of it as a gift between pre-covenant allies." The medic said without turning. Julian observed the man closely. Julian didn't ask how he knew about the Spartan's past, but it mattered little to him. It's not as if the medic could say anything about it without killing his own cover.

The medic walked towards Julian and pressed the needle into his wrist before thumbing the plunger. Energy threw itself through Julian's veins, and the Spartan coughed slightly before laying back down.

"That should do it." The medic spoke before setting the needle down. "Now you just rest. I'll wake you up in the morning. I've got some people to introduce you to.

Julian fell asleep just as he finished his sentence.

When Julian came to, the medic was just leaving the room. "Your gear is in the locker. Get in on and meet me in the pod bay."

Julian sat up and glanced around. He looked down at himself. He would have some more scars, but other than that he felt as good as he did during his first op. The Spartan sat up, before attempting to stand. Not standing up in four days and then suddenly doing so was a shock to his legs. Julian struggled to keep his balance, but eventually caught himself and slowly walked towards the locker.

When Julian arrived in the pod bay, he was greeted by a group of four ODST troopers. They were talking amongst themselves and continued to do so after Julian had been standing for some time. When their conversation was over, they finally turned to look at Julian.

"Ah, so the swabbie returns from the dead." An ODST with a red stripe down his black armour spoke, his visor tintless so Julian could see his face. "We were just about to drop without you."

"Why are we bringing this guy, anyway?" Another Helljumper with a blue stripe down his gear asked. "He ain't gonna fit in the pods."

"That's exactly why we're bringing him. It'll put him in a spot where he isn't convenient for once." The red ODST responded. He walked up to Julian stared him in his face. "I'm Gunnery Sergeant Finn. These are my ODST's. Blue boy here is Chase, and Purple and Yellow are Gage and Kyle respectively. Just remember that we run this drop before anyone else, and that includes you."

Julian stared at the helljumpers. He had only seen them once before, when they were deployed against his rifle team a few years back on Madrigal. They were a force to be reckoned with.

"Don't think he's ever seen a helljumper before." Chase said, smirking.

"I bet he has, he just doesn't care. All he can see on the battlefield is himself and the Covies. These Spartans think they're the shit. Let's show him what we do. Find your chairs and get set for a drop! That means you too, swabbie!" Finn swiped his visor, and it tinted, completely hiding his face. You almost couldn't tell that it was glass.

The ODSTs wore dark black armour that was more advanced than basic marine gear, but not as good as what the Spartans had. They didn't like Spartans much, because before the augmentations, ODSTs were the shit on the battlefield. The only augments they had allowed them to last longer without food or water on the ground, other than that, they were just naturally smarter and better trained than your basic marine, not to say the marines were bad. ODSTs didn't need augments to make themselves more powerful and tactical, that's why they disliked Spartans, and there was always some tension between the two groups. They were also known as the Helljumpers due to their unique insertion method, the SOEIV, Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle. These pods would drop from high orbit ships onto planets at insanely high velocity, using air brakes and braking rockets to slow themselves just before impact. These brakes did fail on rare occasion, however, and on nearly every occasion of such failure, the occupant was killed. This key occasion led to the name Helljumper. They drop feet first straight into the middle of a battle on a chance that they could die during or right after the drop.

"You comin' swabbie?" Finn shouted from his pod. Julian walked over to a vacant pod and sat down. He snapped his MA37 onto the weapon mount beside him.

"Alright helljumpers. We're dropping in a marsh around five kilometers from the LZ. A Fireteam Romeo has been pinned down by echo tango and need our support. After that, we regroup with their CO and start the trek to LZ, which is now marked on your map. Keep in mind that the map isn't too accurate, we have no perfect idea of what's down here, just what _Ode To Joy _can see." Finn explained. "Everyone understand that?"

"Crystal sir." Kyle responded through COMs.

"Alright then! We're going red! Tighten those seatbelts; marshlands aren't very nice to SOEIVs!"

The pod doors shut slowly, with only a small view port on the front for Julian to look through. The pod began to rotate, and Finn's face appeared on a console beside the viewport. When the pod finished rotating, Julian could see the other four pods hanging inside the belly hangar. The sudden stop of the rotation caused the pods to sway a bit. _Ode To Joy_'s belly opened up, and light began to pour into the dark hangar. Julian looked down onto the planet below. It was nothing like he'd ever seen before.

"Remember Helljumpers! We are green, and very, very mean!" Finn said firmly. Then the support holding up the pod let go.

Julian's stomach dropped, and he watched as the planet began to grow. A pod soared past him and darted below his view. In the distance he saw another pod wriggle around as directional thrusters stabilized it. Only moments after he began the drop did the clouds catch him, and suddenly he couldn't see anything. Julian glanced over at the console and saw Finn sitting calmly. When the Spartan looked back at the viewport, he saw the endless green of grass, only interrupted by a few flowing streams of blue water, like cracks in the land.

"Beautiful, isn't it. Too bad it isn't where we're going." Finn said. "Adjust pods, forty-five degrees south." Julian gripped the throttle and tilted it down slightly. "Alright, everyone is on course. A nice smooth drop. Get ready for a hell of a fight when we land."

The light green was replaced by dark green muddy grass, brown water, and vine-covered trees. Julian saw it for only a few seconds before the pod smacked into the ground. Julian shook his head and grabbed his MA37. The pod door hissed and blew open, soaring into a tree and crashing loudly. Julian unstrapped and climbed out from the pod. He watched Finn hop out of his pod as well and duck for cover behind a tree as plasma bolts killed the air where Finn had just been standing. Julian looked up to see Kyle and Chase crash a few feet apart before their pod doors blew open and they came out fighting, their doors facing the Covenant. Gage's was the last to come down, and it landed in the muddy swamp water.

"Finn! Damn pod door is stuck! Water won't let it open. I need some help!" Gage panicked over COMs.

"We're pinned down by Covenant fire! Hold on for just a moment and we'll get to you."

"Understood. Just don't let them shoot me up." Gage responded.

"I can get you. Finn, just keep the Covenant distracted." Julian said over the COMs as he fired at a jackal from behind his SOEIV.

"Alright swabbie, I can do that. You just get my ODST out of there." Finn responded.

"You better hurry Spartan, if she dies, I'm pinning it on you." Chase told Julian over COMs before finally going silent.

Julian dropped the jackal and ducked back behind the pod, giving the Helljumpers some time to draw the alien fire. When the plasma bolts finally turned to the trees, Julian sprinted towards the sinking pod. He could see the ODST inside, but just barely. More than half of the pod was submerged. He'd have to brute force the door open. An elite spotted Julian and started to fire at him. Three bolts splashed over the Spartan's shield. Low shield warnings flared on Julian's HUD, and he slid behind a tree. When he peeked around the tree, Finn was on top of the elite, and he shoved his blade into its throat. The alien gurgled and grabbed Finn by the arm and threw him into a tree. The ODST's head recoiled into the wood and he slid onto his back. The elite stumbled backwards and grabbed the knife. Before it could do anything, Chase pumped a shotgun round into its chest, and it fell to the ground. Julian watched Finn stand up slowly and grab his head.

"Go Spartan! I've got Finn." Chase said out loud.

Julian ran to the now almost fully submerged pod. Two grunts were smacking the viewport with their fists and laughing. The glass was cracking under their pressure and the water's. Julian popped a round into the first grunt's head, its skull exploding in a cloud of neon blue. The other jumped into the water and tried to wade back to land. Julian shot it dead as well. When the Spartan reached the pod, Gage was inside looking through the little bit of glass that wasn't underwater at Julian.

"Never thought I'd be saved by a swabbie." She said.

"Watch your head." Julian said. He punched in the glass.

Water starting flowing into the pod, and Julian waited until it completely filled it up, causing the ODST to disappear from view. When the muddy water finally reached the top of the pod's interior, Julian wrapped his fingers around the inside of the viewport and pulled. The metal croaked and sighed, as Julian's vision flashed back to the banshee that tried to crush him. His grip loosened a bit at the thought, but he quickly regained control and tugged. The latch holding the door snapped and the center began to deform and bend. Julian leaned forward and threw himself back once more. The metal held for a few more seconds before the door finally shouted and threw Julian to the ground. The ODST jumped from her pod and swam to the shore as quickly as she could. Julian tossed the door to the side and walked to the sludgy grass.

"Thanks." Gage muttered from under her helmet as she squat down for a breather. "I didn't have time to seal my helmet." She managed again before falling into a short coughing fit.

"How are we?" Finn asked through COMs

"Green. What about you?" Julian replied.

"I'll be fine. I talked to the Lieutenant. Their CO dropped just before we landed. The Covenant hit pretty hard and they lost three other men in the firefight. Luckily it was a just a searching party. They're getting their bearings, and then we're heading out."

"At least we landed where we were trying to land." Gage told Julian with a smirk. "That doesn't happen often."

"So the water landing was a tactical decision then?" Julian quipped. Gage laughed and started off in Finn's direction

"Come on you two. Nightfall is soon. We move out then." Finn ordered over COMs.

Julian watched the stars as they sat over head. They were clearer than any other time he had seen them. He sat on the edge of the marshland tree line just before the open pastures, away from the campsite that was lit up by red pocket-lights. The ODSTs and Marines had slept through the rest of the day, with Julian offering to keep watch until nightfall. It had gone peacefully, and Julian got plenty of time to think. Apparently another fireteam was held up in a small alien bunker about a ten minute's walk from here. Fireteam Victor would hold in the bunker until Fireteam Romeo arrived with the ODSTs and then they would walk together the rest of the way to Fireteam Ulmar. A sound plan, as long as no Covenant showed up until then. By the way things were going, it seemed as if they might be able to make it to the structure at least before any more ETs showed up.

"Hey, we're ready." Gage showed up out of seemingly nowhere and broke Julian from his thoughts.

"Alright. Let's go then." Julian mumbled as he stood up, rising over Gage at his seven foot tall stature.

"Everyone is over here. The bunker isn't exactly on our way so we have to make a slight detour." Gage led Julian to the group. The campsite had been packed up and the red lights collected.

"Alright, that's everyone then. Let's get moving." Finn said before turning and leading the group out of the tree line and into the plains.

Julian walked silently beside Gage. He found the helljumpers often insulting him simply for what he specialized in on a field of constant death. The only one of them who left the Spartan alone for the most part was Gage. It had been a while since he met someone who was kind to him and lived long enough to show it. To be honest, Julian enjoyed the company of all four of the ODSTs. They were a lively group of people. Being around the Spartan IIs so much often left a lot to be desired, but they were his team, so Julian endured them. They weren't… human, though. He didn't mean it as an insult. It wasn't their fault, a fact Julian often forgot, they were just hardwired for war, and war only. It was hard to connect with them, or maybe Julian was just bad at doing such a thing. He didn't know, but he seemed to be connecting with these ODSTs well. So he marched on alongside the mass of black and green armour.


	9. Chapter 8

-8-

2013 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 8, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY, HR 6426C System (Alien Structure_)_

"Fireteam Romeo should be arriving soon. They have a few ODSTs, and Julian as well." Hagan spoke to Yonalli, almost mumbling as his eyes focused on the command panel in front of him.

"Julian is back up already?"

"Yeah, treatment went by faster than what was expected. Hell, Hudson didn't even know he was awake until he was already planetside.

Yonalli didn't like that. Hudson was uninformed on a treatment that got Julian operational several days earlier than expected. Fireteam Ulmar had cleared out the Covenant forces inside, and successfully defended the structure from the second invasion. The marines were all ready for a break, but the Spartans were not. The halls inside eventually lead to an open area where the Covenant camp was set up, with one giant ass door behind it, locked. Another map, similar to the one back at the uranium plant, showed the location of another structure on the planet. The symbols had once again mysteriously translated to phoenician, and talked about a security lock down. Hagan believed that the facility on the map might be capable of overriding the door. The Spartans were going to take the LAV to the site while Ulmar rested and waited for Victor and Romeo. Once they regrouped, _Ode to Joy_ would send over two extra pelicans, and the marines would all rendezvous with Odysseus. Hopefully once the facility was unlocked, and the locked off area was explored, the group would all return to _Ode to Joy_'s LZ and discuss the next order of business.

"We'll miss the company of your marines." Hagan told Rhodes as he stuffed his armour compartments with spare 7.62 magazines.

"The feeling is mutual, this place will be a lot scarier without you big bad Spartans here." Rhodes smiled. "We'll be fine though. You guys just try not to die. I don't like the idea of being stuck alone with some helljumpers who'll talk about nothing but the fact that your deaths prove how much better they are for the whole op."

"I think we can manage." Yonalli said as he walked past the two.

Tuskan grabbed the LAAG as Yonalli took shotgun again. "Come on Tuskan, can I get one turn?" Julian joked.

"The only thing that can separate me from this gun are divorce papers." Tuskan grinned, pretending to pet the monster gun.

The M12 lurched and spit up dirt, whining to life once more. They had a little bit of a road trip ahead of them. The ride could take a few hours at the most.

"So, what do we do once we get there? How will we now what to press?" Yonalli asked Hagan.

"If it even is something ro press." Tuskan shouted over the wind and roaring Warthog.

"We get here first, then we worry about what to do. Most likely, your instincts will lead us again, or we'll get a translation like the map." Hagan said, watching the path ahead of them.

"This is all a bit extreme, don't you think? I still have trouble getting over it all. I don't think anyone asked for more fucking aliens to deal with, ya know." Yonalli repositioned in his seat. There was a moment of vocal silence.

"Yeah maybe." Hagan responded. Yonalli and Tuskan both looked at him. "It's weird. I've been thinking it the whole time. Hudson seemed slightly unfazed towards this new discovery. Hell it looked like he knew about it. I don't know, it's not our job to think about it. It just doesn't seem right. I know there is a reason, whatever that may be. What bothers me is how this isn't even the first time he's done this. What else are they hiding?"

The Spartans looked forward again and sat quietly, thinking.

2035 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 20, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN SUPER-STRUCTURE, SOELL SYSTEM

(Covenant Outpost_)_

"It doesn't make any sense…" Staff Sergeant Fenris Marybrod looked at the markings.

"Of course it does. The split-chins are loonies. Don't be surprised when you see this shit." Corporal Joseph Roster sighs and kicks the head of an elite's corpse.

"The markins aren't Sangheili though. I swear on it…" Fenris squints his eyes at the symbols in front of him.

"Keyes to EIU-7."

"Send it captain." Marybrod responded through the COM channel.

"Covenant dropships are en-route to you guys. They've noticed the radio silence. I'd recommend getting out of there, and fast. Chief can run through there later and pick up anything you leave behind, but I don't think losing my only EIU team would be beneficial to us right now."

"Aye, captain. We'll pull out as soon as possible." Fenris responds, his eyes glued to the stone plate in a Sangheili tent.

"Come on Marybrod. You heard him."

"I know, I know… It's just, these symbols. They aren't supposed to be glowing." Marybrod responded.

"How the hell do you know that?" Joseph mutters just as a DX Spirit Dropship rolls down from over the ridge and settles just above the valley floor.

"That's our cue!" Joseph shouts and sprints into the alien cave structure.

Marybrod rises quickly, snatching his MA5B rifle from the stone floor, a recent technological prototype and successor to the MA37. The UNSC _Pillar of Autumn_ was the first starship to be equipped with the rifles, and they were exponentially higher quality compared to the hundred-year old MA37 model. As Marybrod cleared the large cave door, he took one last glance back at the glowing plate. Curiosity once more filled his mind, before he finally closed his eyes and followed after Joseph.

"Covenant have compromised this tunnel! Gensong and I found another way. Keep on us!" Private Hanks shouted to Joseph and Fenris as they sprinted down the corridor.

When they turn the corner, the last two members, Private Second-Class Harvey and Private First-Class Katia, stand firm with their MA5s firing full auto at two approaching elites. Katia drops her target and quickly reloads. The ammo counter on Harvey's rifle snaps at 0, and the elite fires at him from it's cover. The blind plasma shots roar past, but miss the marine. Corporal Gensong snatches an M9 from his belt and lobs it into the side room that the elite cowardly ducked inside of. Before the elite can even make a sound, the deafening sound of the frag going off, similar in sound to a heavily bass boosted snowball impact, ends in smoke.

"Squidnecks down! Let's move." Katia rushes forward into the enormous hall. You could easily move a Scorpion tank or two through the space.

"Afraid we got more comin' in behind!" Joseph shouts over his own 7.62mm gunfire.

"Katia, Gensong, Hanks! You three move up front and keep the path ahead clear! Harvey, Roster, and I will regroup with you. For now, we have to keep the Covies back."

"Can do. Keep it clean back there Marybrod." Gensong responds as the three marines jog forward down the hall.

"Afraid that's a no-can-do, marine." Marybrod smirked slightly.

The first target that greeted them was a red sangheili major. At the sight of the marines he shouted back to his comrades, and the stomping began. Marybrod fired his rifle at the elite, as Roster and Harvey opened fire on the incoming wave of grunts and jackals. The major took three shots to his energy shield before sidestepping and firing a burst of plasma bolts at the staff sergeant. Marybrod attempted to duck under them. Three of the four bolts missed, with the final one punching the marine in his calf. The armour plating sizzled and smoked, thankfully it didn't rich his skin. It hurt like hell though.

"We're being overrun! We need to fall off a bit and hold them at a better choke point." Harvey and Roster backed up slowly, firing their rifles in different directions, making sure to reload in between each other.

"Let's do that. Just don't wait for me, go on ahead." Fenris shouted back. His leg burned and it hurt to put weight on it. The two marines started off, firing bursts back every few feet or so. Roster glanced at the Staff Sergeant with low brows before continuing on.

Fenris inhaled sharply and fired his MA5 at the major again. He needed to make sure the elite was down, at the very least. Then he'd feel comfortable leaving this force. If the grunts and jackals didn't have a leader, they wouldn't be as coordinated, making it harder for them to catch up and kill the marines. If he could just kill this one elite. Then his ammo counter clicked on empty.

Katia leaned against the wall and gasped for air. A plasma bolt had struck her chest, but didn't clear her armour plating. The punch managed to knock the wind out of her, though. Gensong stuck out his hand and Katia grabbed it. He pulled her up and looked back at the dead jackal. It was so far separated from it's group, he was afraid that there were more close behind. Roster and Harvey and showed up soon after the attack, stating that Fenris had stayed behind but would be up shortly. Just as Gensong had begun to lose hope, however, the Staff Sergeant showed up limping.

"And here I thought your ass had finally been cooked." Gensong laughed and punched Marybrod in the shoulder.

"Still standing." Marybrod quipped back before falling slightly on his injured leg. "Well, sorta."

"Hey, don't think we're moving slower just 'cause you decided to get shot up." Katia mumbled between breaths as she pushed off the wall.

"Hey, just know that because of me you don't have to deal with that major anymore." Marybrod smirked at Katia.

"You actually took that thing down? Alright Marybrod, you've managed to surprise me again." Katia snickered and checked the mag on her MA5. She knew that the mag was full, but at this point it was just a fidget.

"Yeah, well, there are still a lot more Covies on their way, so unless you want my efforts to be in vain, I suggest we keep moving.

"If your efforts being in vain didn't doom me as well I'd be completely okay with that, but you've got a point." Katia slapped the magazine back into her rifle and knocked on her helmet. "Let's go marines."

2245 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 8, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY, HR 6426C System (Alien Security Facility_)_

"Wow."

"Wow is right." Tuskan responded.

"It's simple. We go in, deactivate the security substation, and leave." Hagan said.

"It's never that simple, Hagan." Yonalli said as he swung from the Warthog's roll cage and onto the grass.

Tuskan slowly approached the structure as Yonalli grabbed his SPNKR and Hagan shut off the Warthog. "It's eerie."

Darkness had fallen quickly during the ride. Most of the trip was under cover of night. The alien structure stood tall, the left side glowing under moonlight. Parts of the hovering structure emanated an all too familiar blue-steel light from an indistinguishable light source. The only sound was the humming of the floating alien pillars, slowly rotating counter-clockwise about the tall build. It brought back bad memories.

"Come on Tuskan." Yonalli whispered to the Spartan through COMs as he entered the structure after Hagan. His memories instantly flashed back to the Uranium Facility. He had just whispered through a private COM channel again. His stomach dropped.

"Schematics say the console room should be at the top. There's a lift just a few meters in that can get us up there." Hagan explained. Tuskan and Yonalli's helmet lights scanned the room left to right. Yonalli checked the ammo counter on his MA3 several times, glancing down often even when he was sure he had every round ready.

"There. That's the lift." Hagan said, pointing to an indent in the wall. Just as he did, something shifted behind a glass pane.

"Keep your rifles ready…" Yonalli mumbled.

The Spartans stepped onto the platform. Tuskan glanced around looking for some sort of lifting mechanism. He glanced at Hagan and Yonalli. Yonalli looked back and nodded. Tuskan had heard them describe the elevator with no supports, but he never thought he'd experience it himself. He didn't like the environment one bit. The way Yonalli moved and behaved since they arrived made Tuskan think that this place also made him feel wrong. He knew it was an abandoned ancient facility, and no matter how you phrase that it won't sound safe, but there was something else at work, and every one of them could feel it. Spartans don't tend to sense eeriness or fear the unknown. Facing and defeating the unknown is their single purpose. That's why the structure felt off, because the Spartans feared it. They sensed a danger that hadn't shown itself yet. And every time the hovering elevator passed a floor, Tuskan could sense the danger watching him.

"This isn't right…" Hagan mumbled as the elevator began to slow. "We should still have seven more floors to go."

"What did I say…" Yonalli muttered in a very low tone.

The elevator whistled and ceased movement. A low tone similar to a humming was the elevator's way of announcing their arrival. The only flaw was that this wasn't their destination. Tuskan glanced about before turning on his headlamps. Just as he did, a figure darted into the darkness..

"What was that?..." Tuskan shivered slightly, his rifle instinctively raised. Yonalli and Hagan had theirs up as well, and Hagan slowly began to move forward.

When Hagan took his second step, a scrawny figure jumped down from the ceiling and tackled him. Hagan fell to the floor as Tuskan's headlights darted to the Spartan. An eerily thin humanoid figure crouched over him. The odd thing was that the creature's skin seemed to be made of a metallic substance, and it's head was glowing orange, and reminiscent of a human skull. The figure was completely naked, but with no identifiable markings to suggest it's species other than it's humanoid skull-like head. Particles of orange energy hovered around its face and seemed to pop in and out of existence. The creature's jaw fell open, and it screamed at Hagan.

"Fire!" Hagan shouted. Tuskan squinted and pulled the trigger, as did Yonalli.

Hagan's shield flared, but only in response to a few stray rounds. A magazine of 7.62 dented and scratched the metallic creature, whistling as they ricocheted off and into the ceiling and walls. The creature turned to face Tuskan and howled before leaping onto the wall and crawling into the darkness.

"What the hell was that thing?" Yonalli asked.

"Not a damn clue. Whatever it was, it was the polar opposite of what I was expecting." Hagan responded, his voice calm as always as he rose to his feet.

"Was that?-" Tuskan began to ask.

"No. This thing is something else." Yonalli interjected.

"Let's just hope it doesn't come back." Hagan muttered.

"You know it will." Yonalli said as he reloaded his rifle.

Tuskan looked at Yonalli as he slapped a fresh mag into his MA3. Yonalli seemed strange. He wasn't usually this pessimistic. Maybe it was something about the atmosphere, but Hagan seemed to notice it as well. He often glanced back at Yonalli while they walked, as if expecting him to be gone the next time he checks.

"Tuskan." Hagan says through a private COM channel.

"Yeah. I notice it too."

"Keep an eye on him." Hagan said firmly without even looking at Tuskan, then the channel was shut down.

Hagan had noticed a set of emergency stairways that ran up and down the entire tower. They would have to take those to get to the top. When they arrived, however, something felt off. The emergency stairwell was rather a series of claustrophobic tunnels that ran in between the common room areas. It felt more like a crawl space, but with enough room to stand in. The Spartans had to walk in a single-file line, and the entire way up Tuskan felt uncomfortable. If that creature decided to show up just then, they would have a difficult time stopping it.

"This is it." Hagan said when the tunnels finally opened up into a large room completely surrounded by windows.

Below each pane was a console, though most were dusty and tattered. The room was dark, with not a single light found. Wind blew freely through the shattered glass, and a piece of cloth waved in the wind. Outside the window was pure darkness, and a cover of clouds. Lightning could be seen far in the distance, before a large hovering pillar slowly rotated in view of the tower, and disappeared around the other side. Console screens had been cracked, and a few consoles had even been torn in half. One console, however, was dimly lit by a floating projection. It was the only light in the room. Tuskan stepped forward on broken class, the small crunching noise making Tuskan cringe. He would rather have made no sound at all, as the thought of that creature hearing them and showing up was the only think he could think about. Two full MA3 magazines seemed to just annoy the creature. What would it take to actually kill it?

"That's that then. Yonalli, I'm entrusting you to deactivating the security panel. After that we get out of here."

"Hagan, got a hostile outside the glass." Tuskan mumbled.

Hagan turned to look at him. The figure from before greeted his eyes first. It dangled on the outside of the shattered glass, it's arms outstretched and gripping something just above the window. Hagan lifted his rifle at the creature. The Spartans all froze, as did the creature, just dangling and watching them. Hagan slowly wrapped his finger around the trigger. Just as he was about to unload, the creature hissed and slowly pulled itself up and out of view. Hagan stumbled forward slightly, leaning out of the window and watching the creature clamber around the side of the wall and onto the top of the tower. Hagan backed up into the center of the room as Yonalli touched the light panel. Without a sound, it vanished.

¨Alright. Hopefully that worked." Hagan muttered.

"It did. I can almost swear on it." Yonalli responded as he walked past. Hagan glanced at him before looking at Tuskan. He shrugged and followed after Yonalli. Hagan stood for a moment longer eyeing the window that the creature had been hanging from. A gust of wind came through the window before the air calmed. Hagan sighed and walked after the other two.


	10. Chapter 9

-9-

2330 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 8, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY, HR 6426C System (Fireteam Victor's Last Known Location)

"Marines, you wait out here. We'll go in with the swabbie and rendezvous with Fireteam Victor. We'll head straight back out when we can." Fin spoke to the Lieutenant from Fireteam Romeo.

"Aye, we can wait. Just make sure you get back in one piece." The lieutenant said with a nod. Fireteam Victor had stopped responding to COMs only ten minutes before Romeo arrived, which meant that whatever cut the call was most likely still nearby.

"This is one eerie-ass 'bunker' if ya ask me." Chase muttered.

"Stow it. Keep your gun hot and your eyes straight." Fin hissed back. "VISRs on. Watch out for friendlies."

Julian enabled his VISR and glanced at the surrounding that was pitch black mere seconds ago. The room was narrow, but he caught sight of an opening just a few feet down the hall. Fin and Kyle were the first to enter the area, Fin taking left, and Kyle taking right, with Chase scanning the middle of the room.

"Not a damn thing in here. You'd think this would be where Victor held up." Kyle whispered.

"Got MRE pouches here. Half consumed, some still sealed. They left in a hurry." Fin observed.

"Shell casings." Kyle crouched down on the floor. "12.7x40mm. Still hot."

¨Guys, this ain't good." Chase muttered from the other side of the room. Fin rose and stumbled over to the ODST, staying low to the ground, as if the atmosphere itself was trying to pull him down.

"You're goddamn right this ain't good, Chase." Fin whispered. "ODSTs, Romeo isn't here anymore. It's likely they went further inside. Covies might've forced them deeper inside. We need to get down there and give them support. Watch for ETs." Fin ordered as he stood and walked towards the dark corridor leading further into the structure.

The ODSTs followed close behind him, disappearing into the darkness. Julian walked towards them before glancing back at the blood splattered across the floor and wall in a dark corner where Chase and Fin had been huddled. Julian shook his head before darting after the others. He quickly turned a corner to the small glow of a flashlight, with the ODSTs huddled around it.

"He's been gone for only a few minutes now. His tags are missing. They're probably with the rest of Victor." Gage spoke to Fin, lifting up the MA3 from the ground and switching off it's rail flashlight.

Fin was about to respond when a yellow crystal shard appeared in Kyle's shoulder, followed by a whistle, and Kyle's armour slamming into the ground.

"Contact! Engage!" Fin shouted before darting to Kyle's side and dragging him around the corner.

Julian fired into the darkness with his MA3. Their VISRs weren't picking up the hostile, meaning it was using a light-bending harness. All Julian could do was shoot down the corridor and hope he hit something. After a barrage of 7.62mm rounds put holes into every surface, the ODSTs stopped firing. Julian glanced around for a body, but to no avail.

"Julian!" Gage shouted.

The Spartan spun around, his eye catching the two blades that were coming down on him. Instinct kicked in, and Julian pushed off of the wall, his shoulder slamming into the chest of a massive Jiralhanae. The brutish alien recoiled back, pulling it's Spiker back into a wall. Julian analysed his enemy as it recovered. The Jiralhanae were a tall, hairy, apish race. Their entire culture revolved around their aggressive tendencies and animalistic behaviours. All of which were represented in their weapon of choice. A sidearm to them, but a hulking beast of a gun to any human, the Spiker. A curved handle fed into a receiver with two stacked barrels, with twin curved bayonet's on either side of the receiver's bottom side. One of the bayonets alone could easily decapitate Julian, let alone the fact that there were two.

Julian raised his MA3 and fired into the Jiralhanae. While it had no energy shielding like the Sangheili, it sure as hell could take a few rounds. The alien roared and slashed at Julian's rifle, splitting it into two like a hot knife through butter. Julian dropped the pieces and sidestepped another slash. He pulled out his combat knife and shoved it into the ape's gut. Gage fired a burst of 7.62 into it's back. Just as she did, another brute showed from the darkness and smashed her visor with it's fist. The Jiralhanae in front of Julian picked him up and threw him at Chase, who had just dropped a jackal with his rifle. Chase saw the incoming Spartan and ducked, causing Julian's Titanium A to put a sizeable dent in the wall.

The brute, blade still in his gut, stomped over to Julian's unmoving figure. Chase fired at the approaching creature, which swiped it's arm across his helmet, throwing him to the ground. Julian rose, but the brute was quick to grab him by his arm and lift him into the air. The alien shoved one of its Spiker's bayonet's just under Julian's arm. Julian writhed in pain and slammed his fist into the brute's head. It dropped Julian with a growl and gripped it's face. Julian squinted before rising to the sound of automatic fire. He watched the other brute drop to the floor, dead. Before the living brute could react, Julian kicked off the wall and dove onto it. Julian brought the Jiralhanae to the floor before ripping free the knife from its belly. The alien tried to resist, smacking Julian's chest in face, but Julian shouted and slammed the knife into its forehead. The brute's arm fell limply to the floor, and Julian relaxed his muscles.

"Get up swabbie! More incoming!" Fin shouted as he picked up Chase. Gage was already lifting Kyle and helping him further down the corridor. Fin put a burst of 7.62 into a grunt, which dropped fast only to be replaced by another.

"We can't keep going down with Kyle wounded like that. Fin and I will continue on. Chase and Gage, you two get Kyle to safety, then rendezvous with us." Julian ordered. He half expected Fin to complain about him ordering the ODSTs around, but the Gunnery Sergeant simply nodded.

"Careful down there, Spartan." Gage watched Julian for a moment before parting.

Julian crouched and lifted up half of his MA3. "Catch." Fin said. Julian grasped the intact MA3 out of the air and glanced at it. It was the one they had found before they were engaged. "He won't need it anymore."

Julian snapped the charging handle and read the ammo counter. Before he could snap a fresh mag into the gun, two jackals dashed forward before crouching beside each other, their shields raised high. Julian put pressure on the first jackal, who's shield began to glow red. The Spartan heard a click, before catching sight of an M9 frag bounce off of the low ceiling and ricocheting off and clattering on the floor. Julian grabbed the gunnery sergeant by his arm and yanked him around the near corner before ducking behind it himself. The grenade detonated, and the hallway silenced. Fin was quick to dart back around the corner where the two jackals had once stood. One was completely obliterated, but the other still crawled along the floor, arms blackened, its shield wrist-mount shipped and cracked. Fin put a round into it's head.

"You're insane. At least warn me before you turn the corridor we are standing in to rubble." Julian grunted.

"If we had stood there for another second, their plasma pistols would have burned me to a crisp. Your shielding may have saved you, but in this small space, those spine heads would make quick work of you."

Julian sighed before loading another magazine into his rifle. The ODST was right, but Julian wouldn't admit it just yet. When the Spartan opened his eyes, Fin was already moving down the corridor.

"Hurry up, swabbie. If the Covies are coming back for us, that means Victor isn't doing so well.

Julian and Fin entered another large empty room, after only a five minute sprint through the dank, narrow passages. Covenant forces had been present, but every encounter was the same. A grunt, a jackal, two grunts. They hardly put up a fight. It was likely that all serious ranks inside the bunker had perished in their fight with Victor, but it was a stretch. The bunker felt more like a large sewer system than a true alien facility. Some ancient leak still wetted the stone under their feet, and the temperature on Julian's HUD was a chilly 5 degrees celsius. Julian's steps echoed, reverberating off of the ancient walls and bouncing to the next. A mysterious light beckoned from around a corner nearly a kilometer in distance and size. The naked eye would see that light first, but with the assistance of their VISRs, the light was the last thing to catch Julian and Fin's eyes.

"Check their tags." Fin broke the silence.

"It's Victor, no doubt about it."

"Yeah, no shit, but if we have one of their tags, we should be able to pick out their IFF signals. Hell, maybe even find a pulse." Fin spoke without a second glance, already marching to the corpses. Julian sighed and moved to the side of a fallen marine.

2450 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 9, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN PLANETARY BODY, HR 6426C System (Outpost Ulmar)

"Sir! The door is opening!" A marine shouted from down the hall.

"That was fast. Guess they didn't need us marines after all." Rhodes smirked at the sight of the large door, scraping to a halt.

"What's the next plan of action, sarge?" The marine, Private First-Class Matteu, asked.

"Well, Odysseus should be back soon. We'll radio _Ode to Joy_ and have those pelicans warm before they return, hopefully." Rhodes explained. She had turned her back for only a moment when she heard skittering echo through the doorway. Curious, the sergeant spun around again and stared down the doorway. Other marines continued their conversations, the murmuring quickly becoming a distraction.

"What was that?" Matteu asked loudly, quickly silencing the other marines.

Whether it was intentional or not, Rhodes had no time to ponder it. She quickly noticed the glowing orange light from just around a boulder. Rhodes slowly approached the doorway and glared down the light, only taking her eyes off of it for moments at a time in an attempt to locate the source.

The sergeant motioned her hand behind her, and a rifle was quickly put into her grasp. She quickly glanced at the ammo counter and snapped off the safety. Just as her eyes were rising, a marine shouted, spraying 7.62mm rounds at a quickly approaching threat. A thin, metallic, humanoid creature, with a glowing orange skull sitting atop its shoulders. It screeched before diving on top of the first marine it could reach, Lieutenant Rosen. Her body wriggled as the creature slashed at her. Rhodes pulled her trigger, backing up slowly. Her bullets seemed to simply bounce off of the creature, as it stopped slashing and slowly turned to Rhodes. The sergeant's eyes were glued to Rosen's mangled corpse. Would that be how she went?

The creature jerked forward, and Rhodes strafed right, slipping and falling onto her shoulder. The creature soared past her and slammed into the wall. Three other marines all combined there fire on the creature, and it soon turned to them. Rhodes lifted herself up and shook her head as the creature charged the middle marine and tore open his chest. He fell back into the arms of the other two marines before bellowing a sound of pure pain. The creature lunged at him again, but a flanking marine shouldered the creature in mid air, and it stumbled to the side. Rhodes rose her rifle before she heard another pair of skittering feet behind her. When she turned, two more creatures scaled the walls and cried loudly.

"Backblast clear! Watch your head, Sarge!" Rhodes heard Matteu's familiar voice and quickly turned to see the marine struggling to aim an SPNKR rocket launcher.

Rhodes lifted quickly and sprinted to the entrance of the facility, where the other marines where huddled. Matteu fired the rocket at the ceiling where the two creatures huddled close together. The rocket whipped the air and cracked before smashing into the ceiling and detonating. The room exploded into a smokescreen as Matteu dropped the launcher and sprinted towards everyone else. The third creature was close behind, and just as he cleared the pinched section of wall, it grappled onto his back and brought him to the ground. Just as Rhodes began to move, an enormous hand pull her back. She looked up just in time to see Yonalli push his hand off of her and sprint full speed towards Matteu. Hagan soon appeared behind her as well, but he stayed where he was. Rhodes turned forward again to see the creature pause and look up at Yonalli. Just as it saw him, it attempted to backstep into the smokescreen. Yonalli was faster, and stomped his boot on the creature's neck before pressing the barrel of a shotgun to it's head and pulling the trigger. Rhodes blinked as the lifeform fell limp and oozed a glowing orange substance from it's metallic structure.

"This one's dead." Yonalli stepped back after a moment of pause. He pumped the shotgun, ejecting the empty shell.

"Glad you could make it, but we were handling it pretty well ourselves." Rhodes laughed a laugh that was a mixture of anxiety, and relief.

"Obviously." Yonalli responded with an audible smirk. "How many casualties?"

"Just Lieutenant Rosen, sir. But I'm not sure Kole is doing so well." The field medic announced from the back of the crowd. "That thing got him good, and after the Covenant attack I've been running low on biofoam."

"Thanks for the help, Spartan." Matteu said as Yonalli lifted him up by his arm.

"There is an emergency kit in the LAAV. Should be some biofoam. All casualties need to be laid in the pelican you marines arrived in." Hagan pushed through the crowd until he stood beside Corporal Kole.

"And those who are still living ride with us." A pilot stumbled through the doorway as he spoke.

"What about Romeo?" A tall female marine asked, her head visible from anywhere in the crowd. "They were supposed to regroup here before we departed."

"There've been a change of plans. Victor disappeared shortly before Romeo arrived. The ODSTs went on ahead, with two later returning to the reporting marines confirming the existence of Covenant hunter-killer teams and the possible KIA of Fireteam Victor. They are going to stay behind and piece together the situation until we can spare pelicans to recover them."

"Hunter-killer teams?" The marine cut in quickly after Hagan finished talking. The room remained silent with the exception of the two. "You're telling me-"

"Jiralhanae. The Covenant are sending in brutes with light-bending harnesses in an attempt to flush us out of these structures. It's best we leave hastily before a team arrives here."

"What about those things? What the hell are these creatures." Matteu pushed past Rhodes and stared at the Spartan.

Hagan looked at Yonalli, who nodded. "We're pretty sure they are the dominate native species on this planet. They seem to be highly intelligent and capable of solving puzzles, as well as reading their opponents and predicting action. Their bodies are extremely resilient, and in most cases the only real damage can be done in blunt force at close range, explosives, or high-caliber weapons." Matteu stayed quiet. Hagan assumed he was satisfied with that answer for now. He knew they all had more burning questions, but they simply didn't have time to answer all of them.

"Alright ladies, let's move. My bird doesn't like to be on the ground for long, and neither do I." The pilot raised his voice as he turned and jogged out of the structure.

Hagan watched the last bodybag settle in the back of the pelican before the hatch closed. Rhodes wiped her forehead with her arm before jogging towards Hagan and Yonalli who had just sat down in their pelican. The sergeant grappled the ramp and pulled herself up before quickly dropping into a seat.

"Green here. Leathernecks aboard, let's get a move on!" The marine told the pilot over COMs.

"Aye, all four pelicans are packed and ready for departure. Closing ramps and lifting."

Rhodes glared down the three Spartans and smirked slightly. Tuskan turned to face the sergeant and met her glare. Her smile quickly diluted, but she still watched them. "So what's the real story behind those creatures?"

Yonalli sighed before turning to face Rhodes. "You seem interested. Thought you greenhorns hated complication."

"Some of us, for sure." Rhodes spoke, twisting slightly in her seat. "But you Spartans have peaked my interest. I don't know what you all found down in that uranium plant, but whatever it was, it took our comfy trip to Io and turned it into another shell-drowned planetside battle. Now that's got me hooked."

"What those things are… It's complicated. You wouldn't understand. And I only say that because I can barely piece it together myself." Yonalli sighed.

"Those creatures want my marines dead. I think I have the right to the simplest explanation of what I'm shooting. My marines deserve to know what is trying to kill them, and what will eventually kill most of them- if we stay on this planet any longer, that is."

"Human. That's what we think they are." Hagan butted in. "IFF signals and everything, so they're recent. That's all we really know."

"Human?" Rhodes asked in a low tone.

"Do you remember that military transport that went missing on its way to Madrigal after a scrambled jump a few years back?" Tuskan leaned forward. He was so quiet, Rhodes had almost forgotten he was there.

"Yeah, the UNSC Harvard? Five-hundred military personnel and one-hundred and fifty two civilians all lost without a trace back in 2549." Rhodes still barely understood.

"We don't know why, but on our way back we encountered two more of the creatures. Tuskan was nearly killed, and that was how we found out that blunt force does a number on them." Yonalli explained.

"The thing was, when the thing was on top of me, my IFF scanner picked up two tags- One just in front of me, and another a few feet off, beside Hagan and Yonalli. When both of the creatures were finally dead, I checked up on the tags and…"

"Whil Manton, and Joslyn Hubbard. Two second-class engineers stationed aboard the UNSC Harvard." Hagan finished.

"How-" Rhodes began to ask

"We don't have a damn clue. It hasn't left our minds since we left. We don't know how we could explain to everyone that we were fighting humans, but at the same time we don't understand it enough to really come to that conclusion." Hagan rushed. His visor was locked to the floor, and Rhodes could tell that the Spartans were greatly troubled. "It was easier when it was just the Covenant, but all this… It's too much. It's too complicated. We weren't meant to handle this much at once…"

Silence fell upon the Pelican for the rest of the ride.


	11. Chapter 10

-10-

2335 HOURS, SEPTEMBER 20, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) UNKNOWN SUPER-STRUCTURE, SOELL SYSTEM (Covenant Controlled Sector)

"That's a whole bunch of hingenecks…" Marybrod whispered.

"There's no fucking way we can handle all of that." Katia croaked.  
EIU-7 was scouting further ahead, clearing a path for the Master Chief. The installation's control center had been located, and EIU-7 just happened to be in the local area. Pelican E419 was delivering Chief through a recently uncovered system of subsurface tunnels, and he'd be arriving shortly. Until then, EIU-7 was to evaluate Covenant positions and troop count. The marines had cleared a small room just before the lift that was marked on ancient schematics. From what they could see, the lift would take them down to the glacial floor and out into an open space of sorts. The upper command echelon, who took Keyes's place when he dropped from contact only an hour prior, believed a Covenant camp would be set here, as it was wide and clear, making stationary gun placement, as well as Covenant mortar tanks, useful against any invading UNSC troops. EIU-7 would never be able to deal with Wraiths, so engagement was not an option.

"Guess we can tell Silva he was right." Gensong muttered.

"As much as I hate that smug bastard, he got their placement down to the hair." Marybrod whispered.

"He's had a lot of experience." Katia inched forward.

"So have we, and I know for a fact that not even Chief could handle a system like this." Roster spoke from the back.

"What are you suggesting?" Marybrod turned to the Corporal.

"Well, you see the three wraiths in the back? They're still cool. No drivers, systems off, mortars tucked away. Looks like they don't expect the Master Chief for awhile."

"True. What about that stationary gun?" Marybrod glanced around, started to understand Roster's plan.

"Are you two insane? Fenris, are you actually considering this?" Katia hissed, turning to the Sergeant.

"Katia, you know not even a Spartan could clear an encampment like this." Roster argued.

"And neither could a handful of marines!" Katia's voice nearly broke out of a whisper.

"Maybe not your typical marines, especially if they tried to take the encampment head on." Roster continued to debate the LCpl. "We aren't typical marines. We're all part of the EIU branch for our surgical precision, right? We have that advantage over everyone else."

"I still don't think we can handle something like this…"

"Look. Here's the plan. I am going to circle around the glacial wall to the left, and wrap around behind that cliff with the gun. That'll be the hardest task, thanks to the lack of cover over there, but hopefully with the rough terrain I could possibly use the hills to my advantage. I'll have Gensong come around with me. The rest of you, use the treeline on the right and get behind those Wraiths. I'll have Gensong bring the SPNKR along, and when we scale the cliff and the stationary gun is down, he'll send a rocket into the Wraith on the far left. Hopefully, you can use the distraction to take out the other two with the breach charges."

"You want us to destroy Wraiths with breaching charges? Are you hit or something?" Hanks scooted up, his sudden raspy voice turning everyone around to face him.

"No no, he's onto something. It's crazy, but it could work. Wraiths have a shit ton of armour in the front, but in the rear, to keep the reactor cool due to the weight it has to carry, there is an opening. Most people can't even get close enough to it before being gunned down by Covie infantry, but with Gensong's distraction, we could pull it off. Those breaching charges would definitely be just enough to knock out one of those reactors for good." Harvey's eyes moved about the room, as if he could see the plan come into action.

"Fuck it. We're marines anyways, what the hell else are we supposed to do other than die." The PFC sighed. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

"SPNKR is calibrated. Should be an easy shot for me to make. I'll have your backs, don't worry." Gensong nodded to everyone.

"Alright. Let's move!" Marybrod tapped a fresh magazine against his helmet, the melted snow slipping free and pelting the foot deep snow. The Staff Sergeant snapped the magazine into his MA5 and pressed through the snow.

"Silva, EIU-7 is pushing the Covenant Outpost. They've reported in visual contact with three Wraith mortar tanks, one stationary gun, 7 elites, 12 grunts, and 2 jackals, although they state that there may be two more out of sight." A sweaty noncom interrupted Silva's conversation with the news. "Should we order them to fall back?"

"I don't think so. EIU-7 is a talented group of individuals. Other than my helljumpers, they are some of the best marines I have witnessed. Let them do what they think is necessary."

"Aye, sir." The noncom panted slightly before turning and jogging out of the tent.

"You sure about that, Silva? Six marines against an encampment of that size?" A helljumper behind Silva tilted his head.  
"They've fought rougher odds. Have some faith in your brothers, ODST." Silva responded, the holotable now tuned in to EIU-7's IFF tags, with a rough seismic scan of the battle terrain. The officer switched a side panel to Marybrod's bodycam and watched closely.

Marybrod fiddled with the bag on Harvey's back before pulling out two charges. The sergeant handed one to Hanks, and snapped the other to his own tacvest.

"You are 100% positive this will be enough?" Hanks shook in his armour. "I really don't like the idea of charging a Wraith with nothing but an explosive meant for forcefully opening doors."

"Positive. Just run up, point the tube at the glowy thing, and hit the primer. Bam. No more tank. The pressurized air should be enough to punch a nice deep hole in the reactor. You'll have to get real close though." Marybrod assured the Lance Corporal.

"And it is perfectly safe to be that close to the reactor when it goes?" Hanks continued.

"We'll worry about that when it comes. If you're worried, just run like hell. You've always been pretty good at that." Marybrod smirked slightly, while Hanks glared at him.

The two marines squatted low in the tall snow. Marybrod looked back at Katia and Harvey. They both met his glance with sincere expressions. He knew they had his back, but something in his gut ached, and he felt a tang of fear begin to creep in to his mind. As Marybrod looked forward, he caught a quick glimpse of a bright lance cross the glacier and spear the far wraith. An elite nearby was knocked over in the blast, but slowly rose, only to be put down for good by the ensuing explosion from the Wraith mortar tank.

"Go!" Marybrod shouted, pushing off of the ground and darting out from the treeline.

The sergeant dropped to his knees behind the close wraith and hefted the breaching charge, pointing the large metal tube directly at the reactor, slowly pressing it against the glass. Marybrod turned to Hanks before he primed the gun. He watched the Lance Corporal trudge through the snow faster than even Marybrod. Just as Hanks was about to reach the second tank, and Marybrod was just about to turn away, a triangle of purple orbs passed through the marine's abdomen. Without another step, Hanks fell into the snow, his spine exposed and pouring blood. Another triangle of light splashed the wraith that Marybrod was covered behind, and the Sergeant quickly gave up trying to run to the Lance Corporal's side, and backed into cover.

"Gensong! Roster! Another stationary gun around a glacial wall further ahead!" Marybrod shouted through COMs.

"What? How? We can't see it from here." Gensong soon responded.

"There was no way for us to see it until we reached the Wraiths… Hanks is down. Katia and Harvey are currently being engaged by Covie infantry, and I think I have some of my own approaching."

"We have eyes on you. Just around your right, two jackals approaching." Roster explained.

Marybrod set down the breaching charge and primed an M9. He lobbed the frag over the wraith and ducked low into the snow. A muffled explosion followed by a short blizzard of falling snow, and even a plasma pistol ricocheting off of the glacial wall just in front of Marybrod, sounded the kill. Marybrod rounded the Wraith's right rear and fired a burst from his MA5 at an approaching grunt. The alien quickly dropped and Marybrod returned his attention to the Wraith. He tried not to think about the smell of the LCpl's corpse climbing into his nose, or the sight of his boiled chest cavity lying unmoving in the snow.

"Marybrod! Got a goldilocks here!" Katia shouted through COMs. The Staff Sergeant spun around and looked back at the other two marines. He could just barely see them in between the trees, but he quickly caught glimpse of the golden-clad zealot elite dodging and weaving, a glowing blue energy sword in his grip.

"I'm coming! Check your fire, but keep him stalled!" Fenris responded. He rose to his feet and looked back once more at Hanks, before facing forward and darting into the trees.

Marybrod pushed through the snow, into the treeline after the elite Their legs allowed them to move much faster, but with how dense this snow was, he imagined their digitigrade legs would become more of a hinderance. The Staff Sergeant rounded a tree, came face-to-face with the elite. It spun around and roared. In the split moment Fenris made a decision. If he engaged with his weapon this close, the elite would simply plunge it's blade into him. His life flashed before his eyes and his instincts kicked in. It might've been stupid, but the marine dropped his rifle and tackled the elite by the waist.

The alien shouted in surprise, before slamming it's enormous fist into his shoulder. The marine shouted when he felt a snap in his right arm. Fenris caught the elite snagging the energy hilt from the snow, and he quickly rose his leg, kicking and stomping on it's hand. The elite swiped it's left hand across his face, and the Staff Sergeant lifted off of the ground just slightly. Fenris opened his eyes to the sky, with the elite rising above him slowly. He could no longer feel his right arm, and the true pain was starting to settle in. A burst of energy ran through him when he remembered the PFC and LCpl just behind him would be approaching any moment now. Fenris rolled to his right, the energy sword sizzling the air where he was just lying. Fenris rose to his feet and grabbed the combat knife from his scabbard with his left arm. The elite tilted his head. In broken english it spoke.

"_You still stand. I admire your courage. You wish to die fighting. Such is a way of life my people live by. I promise you and your friends will meet again after death, if the lords choose to spare you of your sin."_

Fenris looked at the hulking beast as it reached down to it's belt and disabled its energy shield. The marine's eyes widened, and he looked directly at the creature. It stood in a new light, and he wondered why such a noble life form would be so dedicated to killing him and everyone he knew. "You think our races could've ever gotten along?"

"_I think that is unlikely. Your sin can not be forgiven, but may it's weight be forgiving._"

"You've got a point. But I don't think the problem is my race's sin. I think it's yours. The weight from all the innocent people you've killed slows you down, and everyday humanity gains ground. Maybe one day this will all be over, but I don't see a future where you prevail."

The elite lowered its head, but its eyes locked to his. Fenris saw no regret in the alien's pupils. Fenris knew the alien was finished talking. He simply needed to distract it. He couldn't take the thing on alone, not with his arm like this. That's when he spotted Katia sprinting towards him. She couldn't see the elite just yet. When she rounded a tree, Fenris attempted to warn her, but the elite caught her first, slashing his blade across her chest. The PFC dropped onto her back and grunted.

Fenris charged the alien as it looked down at Katia. Once he was within arm's reach of it, he ducked low to the ground and slid. The elite's energy blade took off his helmet, but the SSGT remained unharmed. He plunged the knife into a sliver of armourless space on the alien's waist. It grunted and kicked Fenris in the ribs with its hoof. He fell to the snow and coughed up blood. The alien's kick had the force of a horse buck, and he didn't doubt that a well placed kick from that creature could easily kill someone. The alien thrusted its sword down, and Fenris tilted to his left, his eyes squinted shut. He heard the blade sizzle the snow, and then he jumped at the sound of an MA5 rifle being fired.

Fenris opened his eyes to the elite running behind a tree, violet blood leaking from bullet holes in its chest. Fenris could see Harvey approaching low from the trees, his rifle raised. The elite panted heavily, and it looked like it was about to collapse, swaying from side-to-side. Just as it was about to re-activate its energy shielding, three shots from behind it cracked, and violet blood splattered the tree in front of it. The elite collapsed into the snow, it's blood sputtering and splashing from the back of it's head like a busted can of tomato sauce, but with nasty alien violet tomato sauce. Fenris wasn't good at analogies.

The marine turned to see Gensong and Roster approaching quickly, Roster holding an M6D Handgun, raised just where the elite's head was. Katia grunted and rose to her feet, and Harvey rushed to her side to help her. When she was up, Harvey quickly turned to help Fenris.

"You good, Katia? That looked like it hurt." Fenris grunted as he rose.

"I'm fine. He just got my chest plate, knocked the wind out of me. What about you? That arm doesn't look alright at all."

"It's not. I can't feel the damned thing… That beast definitely broke something." Fenris slowly walked towards a tree and leaned against it. "What took you two so long?" Fenris looked at Gensong, who was checking the elite's body.

"We dealt with that stationary gun. He had our path to you guys covered so we had to flank around him using the cliff. Sorry we were late to the party." Roster responded.

"Damned thing killed Hanks… If I had known it was there I would've taken the second wraith…"

"Then you'd be dead. There was nothing you could've done. We had poor intel and made an ad-hoc decision based on what we could see with our eyes. It wasn't smart. But I'll tell you what, Hanks didn't die for nothing. This encampment is cleared, and we can take out those wraiths. That'll allow Chief and the rest of the reinforcements to roll in more easily." Katia stepped forward in front of Fenris. "Just go finish the job and take out those wraiths."

"Should be easier now that you don't have a bunch of ETs getting in your way." Harvey spoke from behind the Sergeant.


	12. The Future of Great Ignition

The Future of Great Ignition  
September 30th, 2019

US, Earth, Sol System

Hello to all of you who enjoyed the progress of Great Ignition so far! Unfortunately, some changes are coming. Great Ignition is very dated compared to my current competence in writing, and it shows quite prominently in the first few chapters. If you just came from Chapter 10, I'll have you know that the chapter was actually written in early July, nearly 3 months before I posted it on Fanfiction! This occurred due to the lack of passion in writing the book anymore, as well as realizing that in order to fix my predicament I'd have to go back and rewrite the whole thing, which I did and didn't make it past the Prologue.

These two combined issues led to my final decision to cancel the continuation of the book. If you cared at all for it, I apologize. However I no longer feel a pull to narrating the story anymore, and no longer wish to continue writing it. This isn't all bad news, however. In the 3 months between the writing of Chapter 10 and its submission to Fanfiction, I actually started a new series that will be coming soon to the site.  
This post does not ensure GI's death forever, maybe one day I will feel said pull again, and start the book back up. However until then look out for my new Halo book which will be coming soon to the website. Thank you all for being interested in the story I wanted to tell, and I hope to see some of you again in my views.

-SixtyYDidU


	13. Halo Short: The Human Anomaly

"Fuck. Overwatch just went dark. We're gonna have problems in about 30 seconds."  
"We've had problems the past week. We all knew it would happen eventually, Marybrod."

"Stow it, O'Neal. If I'm gonna die today, your bitching is at the bottom of the list of things I wanna hear." Corporal Fenris Marybord shook his red head. Who knew this was how he'd go. Hiding in a mall only a dozen miles from where he grew up.

They'd stationed him in New Littleton, as by the time he was relocated, Subrolla was already consumed. He'd give anything to see that damn farm one last time. The marine shook his head. He checked his rifle to occupy himself from the impending doom. A group of ETs was gonna walk through that door at any moment, and there was no way his rag-tag group of survivors would last long. Their corpsman was fucked on landing, and half of Fenris's original Fireteam was wiped out. After getting pinned by some Jackal Rangers, Fenris met up with another bunch of marines who got separated from their team. The two groups, including their wounded, stuck together until they were pushed into a strip mall just off the exit of Wakewe 47. A couple people stuck outside to keep watch while the people inside scavenged the mall for literally anything to help the wounded.  
"Fenris… it's Gensong." The PFC called out from the mall's pharmacy. "He's gone."  
Fenris sighed, turning around as he knelt beside the shell that once was Sergeant Rio Gensong. The PFC removed his helmet, revealing the Sergeant's buzzed blonde hair. Scavengers had beat the group to the medical supplies. The last two remaining bottles of Ibuprofen were all the aisles would spare, at the very least bringing the dying soldiers a slight bit of comfort from their fates. Gensong was the third to go. Fenris rested his hand on the marine's shoulder. He locked his green eyes with Gensong's faded pupils. The marine wasn't in there anymore, but Fenris spoke anyways.

"Guess you win that bet." Fenris laughed a bit at the innocent joke the two had made in SOI about who would die first.

"By a close margin." Corporal Tuk O'Neal turned his head to Fenris, who still knelt by the Sergeant. Fenris clenched his teeth as the brown-headed pessimist spoke his unwanted piece for the millionth time. "We'll all be following close behind him."  
"Guess I'll have to buy him a drink there." Fenris rose, grabbing his rifle from the floor and stowing it under his arm. He marched past O'Neal, shouldering the marine as he did so. "You and your half-empty glass aren't invited." Fenris slipped on his helmet.  
"I'll still show up anyways. I always do." O'Neal smiled at Marybrod as he too patted his helmet onto his skull.  
"That you do. Though I didn't take you for the religious type." Fenris found himself laughing a bit as he twisted his head and rolled his shoulders.  
"Times change. At this point I'm just hoping there is something after." O'Neal sighed. "You all ready?"  
The last four able marines snapped magazines into their rifles and punched each other's shoulders. They joked about what awaited them after all this. On the other side of the sizzling door, a Reaper prepared to take their souls.

Sera glanced over at the minor, Ota 'Ladomee, who huffed and gripped his Energy Rifle tightly. The Fieldmaster placed his hand on 'Ladomee's shoulder. "Calm yourself, Warrior. The Gods will our prevailing. Let them guide you to victory."  
Ota turned to Sera, the minor's expression one of forced courage, a facade. Sera observed this expression. It caught him off guard. He had never seen such an emotion before.  
"We have broken through. We go in on your command, 'Lufamee." The Major Officer, Thezo 'Rakamee, spoke to Sera as he placed the plasma cutter onto his harness.

Sera slipped past the Major and pressed his palm on the door. He had decided to be the first to push through, as the doorway was narrow and he had the strongest harness. They would charge in with Sera soaking up the human's pellets, while the rest went for cover. If the intel that they'd received from Xido 'Srasumai and his Kig-Yar Rangers was correct, they'd only have 8 more humans to deal with. One of the rangers had said that there were a few wounded, so Sera assumed they would not fight as hardy as 8 other humans.

Sera shouldered in the door, and was immediately met with the crackling punches of assault rifle fire. Sera winced at the force for a moment, before tensing up and pushing down the hall. He glanced back at the 4 Sangheili and 2 Unggoy behind him, before switching his focus back on the bright light of suppressive fire. As the group cleared the hall and dove for cover, Sera remained standing, firing his Energy Rifle at the closest human. The second round punched the alien in the gut, its fragile bones snapping as its crimson blood spewed from its mouth. One human down.

Sera ducked behind a pillar as he was hit twice by another gun of a heavier caliber. A marksman rifle, he assumed. As the corner of the pillar beside him popped into dust from the marksman's glancing round, Sera dove out the opposite side. He landed right beside a human, who locked its green eyes on Sera's massive stature. The Fieldmaster drove his elbow into the human's chest, slamming its frame into the marble floor. The cracks formed from the impact began to fill with crimson as the human coughed and attempted to get back up. Sera turned his attention away, firing a shot at the marksman, before a plasma bolt from Ota struck said marksman, putting him on the floor for good. Sera was surprised when the injured human behind him fell onto the Fieldmaster's shoulders. As Sera held back the knife that the human wielded, another human vaulted over a desk and dove onto Sera's legs. The Fieldmaster tilted over, catching himself on a wall. The human on his back used the moment of surprise to dip the blade of its knife into Sera's shoulder. 'Lufamee headbutt the human on his back, pumping his arms and throwing the man to the floor. He grabbed the alien around his legs and tossed it into a pillar. Thezo, the Major, dealt with it as Sera shot the green-eyed human in the face.  
As Sera huffed at the pain in his shoulder, an annoyance, he noticed movement from the corner of the room. The Fieldmaster approached it. A shot from a human pistol bounced off of Sera's shielding system, and the Warrior kicked a magnum from the figure's hand. A single human, leg stub wrapped in cloth and dying on a makeshift stretcher, gripped his now broken wrist and screamed. Sera shook his head and silenced the human with his energy rifle.  
"Such determination… I admire and despise you simultaneously. You humans always seem to bring something new with every encounter." Sera eyed the human's injuries closely. He looked around at the three other stretchers, blood loss beating Sera's team to the kill.

"Me thinks the Minister will give us extra food nipple for this one's helmet!" One of the Unggoy shouted, picking the dead humans of their gear.  
"Then I wants the helmet! I shot the humans more times." A second Unggoy pouted, and the two continued bickering. Sera felt anger fester inside.

"Come, Sera. We must report this to the Minister of Defiance. The Gods will surely reward us for what we've done." Thezo placed a hand on Sera's shoulder. The Fieldmaster exhaled and turned to the Major.

"The human city lies in ruin. Our brothers did not die for nothing. Our next order of business is to find the relic." Sera turned to Thezo. "You go. I will report to the Minister."  
"Sera. This was your mission. You deserve the credit."

"No, 'Rakamee. Go find the relic. Take Ota with you. I have a feeling this will warrant promotion." Sera looked into the Major's eyes. He studied 'Rakamee's expression of awe.

"Thank you, 'Lufamee." The Major pressed his fist to his chest as Sera departed. So much was on the Fieldmaster's mind.

For filth, the humans continued to impress Sera daily. What did this showcase mean? He had easily defeated humans with more honour than even some Sangheili. Had the injured human simply remained still, he would have had a second chance at life. Sera's mind was scrambled. He marched down the hallway, gripping his forehead. It simply didn't feel right. Something itched at the back of the Fieldmaster's mind after every encounter he had with the humans. Sera grunted, slamming his fist against the top of his head. Why did these thoughts plague his mind? Were they the message of the Gods? Or was Sera's mind truly inching to heresy. The Fieldmaster pressed the thoughts into the back of his mind. He had a world to burn. He had no time for such ideas.


End file.
